Subject and Class Guides: Research Process : Evaluate Sources

To ensure you are including only valid information in your research, evaluate your sources using the criteria below.

Who Do You Trust and Why?

Video created by Oklahoma State University Library

Guides to Evaluating Sources

Factitious
Test your fake news detection skills with this short game. Read articles, evaluate the source and decide: fake or real news?

CRAAP Test Criteria Handout
When you are searching for information – especially online – you will come up with tons of results. How can you tell if the information is good? How can you tell what information is not only reliable, but relevant to your information need(s)? The CRAAP Test can help you evaluate the information you find, posing questions to ask yourself about your information source. - The above was adapted from Meriam Library CSU Chico.

How to Read Laterally
Created by NorthWest Arkansas Community College, this graphic walks you through the steps to fact check online information.
False, Misleading, Clickbait-y, and/or Satirical “News” Sources
Created by Melissa Zimdars at Merrimack College, this document helps to make sense of what kind of information certain news websites might contain.
Media Bias Fact Check
Unsure about the type of information you're reading? This site evaluates news media websites for bias, letting you know if they lean left, right, or are mostly unbiased.

Techniques for Evaluating & Analyzing Sources

Lateral Reading

Lateral reading is a great way to choose reliable and trustworthy online resources.

With lateral reading, don’t take what a website says about itself at face value. Check to see what others say about the site by opening new tabs in your internet browser and using them to search for more information about the website. Fact checkers use lateral reading to quickly check a website for reliability.

Watch John Green explain lateral reading in this Crash Course video.

Criteria Checklists

Checklists are a good way to further analyze an online resource once you verify it’s a reliable source.

Checklists are also great for analyzing and choosing the best research articles from library databases, scholarly books, or other resources that you already know are reliable.

Use criteria lists to dig deeply into a website, article, or other resource and analyze the information in-depth.

Criteria	Questions to Ask
Currency Some written works are ageless (e.g., classic literature) while others (e.g., tech news) become outdated quickly. Determine if currency is pertinent to your research.	When was the information published or posted? Has the information been revised or updated? Does your topic require current information, or will older sources work as well? Are the links functional?
Relevance The source should meet the information needs and requirements of your research assignment.	Does the information cover all aspects of your topic, or only one part? Who is the intended audience? Is the information at an appropriate level for your needs (not too basic or advanced)? Have you looked at a variety of sources before determining that you will use this one? Is the source considered popular or scholarly?
Authority The author should show some evidence of being knowledgeable, reliable and truthful.	What are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations? Is the author qualified to write on the topic? Is there contact information for the author or publisher? Does the author provide citations? Do you think they are reputable? Does the URL reveal anything about the source? (.com .org .edu .gov)
Accuracy The source should contain accurate and up-to-date information that can be verified by other sources.	Is the information supported by evidence? Has the information been reviewed or refereed? Can facts or statistics be verified through another source? Based on your knowledge, does the information seem accurate? Is the language or tone unbiased and free of emotion? Are there spelling or grammatical errors?
Purpose Determine the reason the information exists	What is the purpose or motive for the source (to inform, teach, sell, entertain, or persuade)? Do the authors/publishers make their intentions or purpose clear? Is the information fact, opinion, or propaganda? Does the point of view appear objective and impartial? Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional, or personal biases?