循环报道，又称虚假确认，是来源批判的情况之一，指一条消息以貌似出自多个独立来源的形式出现，实际上仅出自单一来源[1][2]。部分情况中，该问题由其他媒體搜集信息時過於草率而引起。然而在其他情形下，这个情况可能是由原创者故意捏造多個相似內容的來源，目的是增强人民对其信息的信任[3]。
循环报道问题会在不同领域出现，包括情报搜集（英语：intelligence assessment）、新闻和学术研究。尤其在军事情报方面，由于原始来源传递错误信息的可能性非常高，加上报告链条更容易被遮盖，该问题受到特别关注。2002年尼日尔铀伪造品事件（英语：Niger uranium forgeries）是情报部门循环报道的经典实例[4]。
维基百科偶尔会被批为循环报道的来源[5][6]。因此，维基百科建议研究人员和记者警惕或尽量避免使用维基百科作为直接来源，而把焦点放在一篇條目中有参考资料而且经验证的內容[7]。在下列实例中，由于循环报道，不实信息在维基百科和新闻来源中传播。兰德尔·门罗在他的讽刺漫画《Xkcd》中将这一现象称为“引文生成反應”（Citogenesis）[8]。
Circular reporting occurs when what is reported is fed back to the originator in revised fashion which makes it difficult to objectively view the end product until you can trace back the sources to determine where the original information actually came from. Pan Am would eventually try to play that game by trying to introduce into court news reports that they themselves had a hand in producing.
This became a classic case of circular reporting," said a U.S. intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to reporters. "It seemed like we were hearing it from lots of places. People didn't realize it was the same bad information coming in different doors. This is an interesting example of circular reporting.
He once hitchhiked around the Pacific Rim countries
Coati (also known as the Brazilian aardvark): found in Cumbria
There are also about 10 Brazilian aardvark in Cumbria
There are thought to be ten coatis, a kind of Brazilian aardvark, in Cumbria
In the case of the Coati, for instance, also known as the Brazilian aardvark, Buffon explained that “Marcgrave, and practically all of the Naturalists after him, said that the aardvark had six toes in its hind feet: M. Brisson is the only one who has not copied this error of Marcgrave.”