How to Assess Source Credibility
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How to Assess Source Credibility 1. Where did you find this source? (Did you find it using a database or a search engine? Is it posted on a wiki, a blog, or a forum?) Using a database, like EbscoHost or ProQuest, is the best way to find a credible source because these databases weed out articles that are not very reliable. Search engines, like Google and Yahoo, do not distinguish between academic and personal source; they only look for key words or phrases. In general, wikis, blogs, and forums are unreliable because absolutely anyone can post anything on these sites. This is why Wikipedia is not considered a reliable source by many instructors. 2. Who wrote it? What are the author’s credentials? Usually, it is a bad sign if you cannot find a person or an organization willing to take credit for an article or website. Once you find an author or an organization responsible for the content of your source, look for what credentials they have. Does their career field or area of expertise line up with the information they are presenting? For example, if you are looking up information on what to do if your dog won’t eat his dog food, are you more likely to trust the article written by a veterinarian or the one written by a fashion designer? 3. When was the article written or page last updated? Depending on the subject, when the article was written can be very important. If you are researching the history of prison systems in the U.S., it doesn’t matter if the article is a couple of years old because the information hasn’t changed. If, however, you are writing about recent advances in chemical warfare, it is important that you find an article that was written recently so that your information will be up to date. 4. Can you identify a bias? Are both (all) sides of an issue represented? Look for favoritism within the article or on the website. If the article is about a controversial issue, are several different takes on the issue represented? If the website posits a solution to a problem, is it the only viable solution? For instance, of you look up information on the death penalty, you will certainly find many articles and sites that are biased either for or against the death penalty. Opinion pieces are always biased. Sometimes bias is not as easy to identify. To revisit the example about the dog that will not eat his dog food, you will probably find many sources that will give you lots of different possible solutions to your problem. It is very likely that you Handout created by Emily Russell ITT composition tutor
Transcript of How to Assess Source Credibility
How to Assess Source Credibility
1. Where did you find this source? (Did you find it using a database or a search engine? Is it posted on a wiki, a blog, or a forum?)Using a database, like EbscoHost or ProQuest, is the best way to find a credible source because these databases weed out articles that are not very reliable. Search engines, like Google and Yahoo, do not distinguish between academic and personal source; they only look for key words or phrases. In general, wikis, blogs, and forums are unreliable because absolutely anyone can post anything on these sites. This is why Wikipedia is not considered a reliable source by many instructors.
2. Who wrote it? What are the author’s credentials?Usually, it is a bad sign if you cannot find a person or an organization willing to take credit for an article or website. Once you find an author or an organization responsible for the content of your source, look for what credentials they have. Does their career field or area of expertise line up with the information they are presenting? For example, if you are looking up information on what to do if your dog won’t eat his dog food, are you more likely to trust the article written by a veterinarian or the one written by a fashion designer?
3. When was the article written or page last updated?Depending on the subject, when the article was written can be very important. If you are researching the history of prison systems in the U.S., it doesn’t matter if the article is a couple of years old because the information hasn’t changed. If, however, you are writing about recent advances in chemical warfare, it is important that you find an article that was written recently so that your information will be up to date.
4. Can you identify a bias? Are both (all) sides of an issue represented?Look for favoritism within the article or on the website. If the article is about a controversial issue, are several different takes on the issue represented? If the website posits a solution to a problem, is it the only viable solution? For instance, of you look up information on the death penalty, you will certainly find many articles and sites that are biased either for or against the death penalty. Opinion pieces are always biased.
Sometimes bias is not as easy to identify. To revisit the example about the dog that will not eat his dog food, you will probably find many sources that will give you lots of different possible solutions to your problem. It is very likely that you will find several sites that tell you to buy some type of medicine or a specialty dog food in order to get your pet to eat. Often, these sites will be sponsored by a company that sells the product they posit as the solution to your problem. These sites are biased because they only present the possible solutions that will benefit them.
It is not necessarily bad to use a source that is biased. Sometimes you will want a source that supports or opposes a certain opinion. You must always use biased information responsibly. If your source is biased, you need to acknowledge this in your paper.
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5. Does the article/site look professional? (Look for grammatical errors and formatting issues.)If there are many mistakes in an article or on a website, it is an indication that the article or site was published quickly and without a lot of attention to accuracy. If the author could not be bothered to proofread his/her work, there’s a good chance he/she didn’t bother to check the facts either.
6. Can you check the facts on the site or in the article? (Look for citations, footnotes, a list of links, or a bibliography.)Any time an author uses information from an outside source, they should give credit to the source and give the reader enough information that they could track down the source on their own. If no outside sources are used, it is very likely that the piece is an opinion piece. If sources are used but not documented properly, be suspicious of the credibility of the source. If the author can’t be bothered to correctly document a source, he/she may not have taken the time to carefully research the information. If a site has a list of links to sources, try a couple of them. If the links don’t work, this may be an indication that the information is out of date.
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