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Evaluating Digital Sources
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Because so much information is now available online, it’s important to know how to navigate digital sources versus print sources. Today, almost every print source has a digital edition (e.g., ebooks, online newspapers), and some academic journals only publish digitally. However, despite the many credible digital sources available today, there are still many unreliable sources available on the internet. Below are some suggestions for evaluating digital texts and a breakdown of the different types of sources available online.
Example of just one fallacious quotation that can be found online.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization (often abbreviated SEO) is a strategy used to increase unpaid views on a website from search engines. By using an algorithm, SEO works by locating keywords and sorting information for relevancy and accuracy. For example, if you were to search “How to change a flat tire” in a search engine, you would most likely get how-to videos and pages, rather than someone selling their car on Craigslist, because the algorithm sorts the webpages based on the keywords you input.
Different search engines may utilize SEO differently, which also means that, depending on what search engine you use, you might have different results appear first. For example, companies that are owned by Google will most likely appear first when searching for something on Google. However, if you used a different search engine, such as Yahoo or Bing, your results may differ.
Understanding SEO is important because it dictates the initial information you’re presented with when using a search engine for your research.
Differences in Domain Extensions
Different websites have different domain extensions, that is, the final string of letters following the period on a website’s domain name. Domain extensions help differentiate the type of websites and the different purposes they serve.
Below is a breakdown of the most common domain extensions:
- .com — a commercial website
- .gov — a government owned/operated website
- .org — a website associated with an organization
- .edu — a website associated with an educational institution
- .net — a website used by network providers
While there is no universal rule for whether a website’s domain extension makes it credible, it’s important to know that .com, .org, and .net domain extensions can be purchased and used by anyone. However, the .edu domain extension is reserved only for educational institutions, and the .gov domain extension is only used by governmental institutions.
Determining a website’s credibility can be especially confusing for websites with a .org extension that appear to have a governmental or educational affiliation. For example, the website passportUSA.org appears to contain official instructions for applying for a passport online; however, it is simply a PDF editing site. Because of the .org domain extension, it appears more credible.
On the other hand, some well-known organizations use a .com domain extension. Both National Geographic and TED use .com domain extension, despite the fact that they’re large organizations.
It’s important to not necessarily evaluate an online source simply based on its domain extension. As you navigate through different sources, you need to examine the authors and the website’s other credentials before making assumptions simply by the domain extension.
Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia, created by the Wikimedia Foundation. Like other encyclopedias, Wikipedia can provide valuable information about certain topics. However, unlike encyclopedias, Wikipedia pages can be edited by anyone, which means that sometimes the information stated is not reliable and is edited for the sake of making a joke (see example below).
An example of a Wikipedia page that has been vandalized to include a joking reference to the film Fight Club. Though this sort of vandalism is rare, it is not unheard of.
In fact, even Wikipedia itself encourages its users to take caution when gathering information from its site. It states: “Users should be aware that not all articles are of encyclopedic quality from the start. Indeed, many articles start out by giving one—perhaps not particularly evenhanded—view of the subject, and it is after a long process of discussion, debate, and argument that they gradually take on a consensus form. Others may become caught up in a heavily unbalanced viewpoint and can take some time—months perhaps—to regain a better-balanced consensus” (see “Researching with Wikipedia” ).
While it’s not encouraged to use Wikipedia as one of your main sources, Wikipedia can be used as a jumping-off point for other sources. At the bottom of most Wikipedia pages, you can find a list of sources that will take you to other pages (see image below).
An example of a References section from a Wikipedia article that has been carefully sourced.
Clickbait is a type of sensationalized advertisement that seeks to attract viewers through catchy or seemingly unbelievable headlines. Most sites that use clickbait use it to simply gain “clicks” on their site.
When looking for sources online, it’s important to recognize which article titles sound like clickbait. Most clickbait articles want to shock the reader, so be aware of words like surprising , alarming , and shocking in titles. Another form of clickbait is a page that challenges the viewer to a quiz or test. These will entice the reader by stating that the reader probably cannot answer each question correctly.
An example of a sensationalistic clickbait headline.
Understanding which articles are clickbait helps you evaluate your sources for credibility. Because clickbait sources exist simply to promote webpages, they are not considered credible sources.
Social Media
Social media is simply defined as any type of digital space that allows users to create content and share it with others in a social setting. A few of the most common social media platforms are Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and Instagram. While social media is not regularly used as a source in research, sometimes you might use a YouTube video or a tweet from a well-known individual.
When evaluating social media sites, it’s important to know more about a user beyond their username. For example, if you were interested in examining how scientists use Twitter as a platform, you might find yourself quoting a tweet by Bill Nye or the physicist Brian Cox. Both of these individuals have blue checks next to their Twitter handles, which means the accounts are verified. However, you might not want to quote a tweet by someone with an anonymous name and a Twitter handle such as @iluvscience321.
Similarly, YouTube videos can either be posted by a large organization or a single user. If you are interested in using a YouTube video in your research, look at whether the publisher is a larger organization (such as TED or National Geographic) or a single user that only publishes under a username. While not all large organizations produce unbiased information, more well-known organizations will most likely provide more credible information.
In general, while you will probably not use a lot of social media in your research, if you do, try to locate the people or groups behind the usernames. After you identify the person or organization, you can find out more about them and determine their credibility.
Personal Websites
Many people have personal websites, such as blogs, that are not associated with a larger group or organization. Blogs can range in subject, from seasonal fashion tips to discussing every one of Emily Dickinson’s poems. When evaluating a personal website, find out what you can about the author and their affiliations. Some personal websites exist solely to spread propaganda or other biased information.
Podcasts are becoming a much more popular digital medium today. Podcasts are essentially audio files that can be streamed on a computer or mobile device, like portable radio. They are usually part of a series or follow a theme.
Like YouTube videos, podcasts can be valuable resources if used correctly. While almost anyone can produce a podcast, and topics range from discussing tv shows or books like The Bachelor and Harry Potter , other podcasts give in-depth information about science, history, anthropology, and a wide variety of other topics. For example, podcasts like Stuff You Missed in History Class and Historium Unearthia provide information on often-overlooked historical events.
Like most sources, you should try to find out information about the author and cross-check the information in the podcast to see if you can find it elsewhere. Because anyone can produce a podcast, be aware that biased podcasts exist, and some might be used as propaganda.
Online News Articles
It’s possible to find many news articles online, both from digital newspapers and websites that post news articles. When examining online news articles, find out what you can about the organization behind the articles. Different news outlets may have different agendas attached to their reporting. For example, some websites are known for being more left-wing or right-wing.
Online Databases
Often, the most reliable information you will find on the internet will come from online databases. A database is a large collection of data, usually about one specific topic or idea. Some databases contain a broader field of information, while some are narrower. For example, Hoosier State Chronicles is a database that only houses Indiana newspapers, while JSTOR is a database that holds a wider variety of journals and books.
When looking for online sources, using a database helps you find credible information. In order for a source to be included in a database, it usually must go through a screening process that requires individuals to verify the information in the text. Because of this cross-checking process, the articles you find in databases will usually be more reliable than sources you might find simply by looking for them using a search engine.
- Research Skills
How To Evaluate Websites: A Guide For Teachers And Students (Free Poster)
Last updated April 26, 2019
Do you have students who need more guidance on finding useful information online?
Earlier in the year, I published a popular post called 5 Tips For Teaching Students How To Research Online . This is a comprehensive guide to teaching students of all ages how to research.
Let’s zoom in on a particular part of the research process — evaluating websites .
I don’t know about you, but I’ve found helping students to evaluate websites to be particularly tricky.
There are lots of guidelines out there but I wanted to create a resource that reflects an effective and natural process , no matter what you’re researching or how old you are.
Scroll down to find a printable flowchart for your classroom.
Research Beyond The Classroom
Let’s remember that researching doesn’t just take place in schools and other educational institutions. You don’t just have to research for a project or essay. It’s something we all need to be good at to thrive in everyday life.
This is called information literacy which is defined by Common Sense Education as,
the ability to identify, find, evaluate, and use information effectively.
You’re probably always researching yourself? I know I am.
Just in the last week, here are some examples of where I’ve been looking for answers online:
- At the nursery, I was looking for some plants for my patio area. I did some quick googling on my phone before buying to find out which plants would be most suitable.
- A cafe I was going to visit with my family was closed. I pulled out my phone to find some nearby kid-friendly options that matched everyone’s requirement.
- Research doesn’t have to be something you do on the fly either — during the week I’ve been researching different approaches to teaching global studies.
These sorts of everyday scenarios would be great to explain to students. Help them realise that research happens everywhere — not just in the classroom.
Bouncing Off Sites Is A Natural Thing To Do
Students need to know that the best site for them is not going to appear at the top of their search results. Google’s PageRank algorithm is complex, and many websites use Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) to improve the visibility of their pages in search results.
Students also need to know how effective searchers behave.
Some statistics that bloggers or website owners like to look at are ‘time on site’ or ‘bounce rates’. A ‘bounce’ is when a person visits a website and quickly leaves:
- Google keeps track of this information and website owners can view it in Google Analytics.
- It helps them produce better content that will make people want to stick around.
- And it helps Google know which search results are popular and should be displayed higher up the rankings.
Why does this all matter?
Students should know that it’s natural to bounce off sites. People often skim sites and quickly leave if it doesn’t offer them what they want.
In 2017, Brafton found that the average bounce rate for the sites they surveyed was around 58%. So more than half the time, people will leave a site almost immediately.
Bouncing away from sites is a natural part of researching. You don’t want to just settle for the first result you come across.
A Flowchart For Your Classroom
I’ve seen lots of resources and acronyms that are designed to help students evaluate websites, however, I haven’t seen something that describes an effective process . Furthermore, I think the first step is often neglected — if a student can’t read or understand a website then it is not useful for them.
Feel free to download a copy of the flowchart and share it with your colleagues. I’ll elaborate on the key sequence below.
How To Evaluate A Website
1) open the site.
The first thing students need to do is open the site.
When looking through your Google search results, you may want to teach students to open sites in new tabs , leaving their search results in a tab for easy access later (e.g. right-click on the title and click “Open link in new tab”).
It can also be worthwhile to explain the anatomy of a Google Search result and the benefits of looking past the first few results. I go over this in more detail in my guide to teaching students how to research.
2) Skim read
Next, skim read the site and determine whether you can read and understand the text. If it’s too complicated or difficult to understand, find another website.
Decide whether this is the sort of site that might provide you with the information you’re looking for. If the site is difficult to navigate, cluttered with ads, or has other red flags like poor spelling or inappropriate content you might want to leave straight away.
Skimming and scanning is the default way most people now consume new content so this now holds an important role in literacy education. A regularly quoted study from Nielsen Norman tells us that 79% of users always scan a new page they come across. Only 16% read word for word.
Scanning and skim reading can be worth practicing in the classroom. E.g. give students one minute to look at a text and then share what they think it’s all about. This is something that could be tried with emerging readers right up to higher level students.
3) Look for the answer to your question
If you think the site might prove useful, you now need to find out if the information on the site actually answers your question . You could use a search box, navigation menu, or pull up your own search box by pressing Control/Command F. Type in the keywords you’re looking for.
Stop skimming, and read more closely to see if this information is useful to you.
4) Consider the credibility of the author or website
If the information is there, you need to consider the credibility of the author or website. Can you rely on the information?
Here are some things you can look for on the website:
- Domain — sometimes domains that include .gov or .edu come from more trustworthy education or government sources.
- Author information — look at at the author bio or About page. How qualified is this person?
- Design — we can’t judge a book (or website!) by its cover but sites that are cluttered, difficult to navigate, or look amateurish may be worth avoiding.
- Sources — trustworthy articles usually link to other sources or cite where their facts come from.
5) Consider the purpose of the site
The next step is to think about the purpose of the site and whether it meets your needs.
- Is the author trying to make you think a certain way? Are they biased or one-sided?
- Are they trying to sell you something? Sometimes ads might not be so obvious, for example, blog posts can be written to promote a product.
- Is the author’s tone calm and balanced? Articles fueled by anger or extreme opinions are not going to be the best source of information.
- Do the headlines match the article? Or are they simply designed to hook readers?
- Is the author trying to educate the audience and present a balanced and factual picture? This is what you usually want.
6) Look for the date
Finally, it’s important to consider whether the information is current enough for your topic. You can look for when the article was written or it might tell you when it was last updated. Sometimes URLs include dates as well.
Does it matter how old an article is? Well, that might depend on your topic. For example, if you’re looking for the latest research on nutrition or a medical condition, the date might be very important. If you’re looking for some facts about World War One, it might not matter if the information hasn’t been updated in a few years.
If the site is no good, bounce back…
As the flowchart demonstrates, if you’re ever in doubt, just head back to your search results and try again. You might want to alter your search terms based on the results you’re provided with. Sometimes you need to change your keywords or be more specific.
When you overcome all these hurdles and find some information that looks useful and reliable, it can be a good idea to crosscheck the information. So, have a look at a few other websites to see if they corroborate the information you’ve found.
It’s important to remember that you can’t believe everything you read and it’s essential to consider multiple perspectives.
Studies have shown that students find it difficult to discriminate between fake news and factual information. This is very important to address but not the only aspect of website evaluation.
Like so many skills, website evaluation is something that people can become fluent at with practice. An important part of the process is thinking critically — not believing everything you read, not settling for any source of information, and always questioning.
Students need to know that anyone can be an author and publish online nowadays (hopefully they’re already publishing online themselves through a blog or similar!).
Like all aspects of teaching students how to research, classroom integration is key. You don’t need to spend large chunks of time on one-off lessons. Model your own searches explicitly and talk out loud as you evaluate websites. As you model, you could evaluate any old website or sometimes show a ‘fake site’ (check out Eric Curt’s examples of fake sites ).
When students can evaluate websites quickly, intuitively, and effectively, they’ll be on a path to thriving in and out of the classroom.
Want to learn more about the topic of media literacy? Gail Desler has curated some great resources on her site Media Literacy in an Age of “misinformation”.
Leave a Comment
What tips or ideas can you add to the topic of website evaluation? Is this something your students have struggled with?
I’d love to hear from you! Scroll down to find the comment box.
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11 Replies to “How To Evaluate Websites: A Guide For Teachers And Students (Free Poster)”
Thank you so much! 🙂
Hope it helps, Tara! 🙂
Kathleen, Here is a giant thanks coming to you from Michigan, USA, where I teach at a homeschool co-op each Monday, once a week. My 11-14 year-olds will be evaluating websites this week, and I can’t wait to hear their thoughts on the fake website links. This should really be fun and useful to them. I gave my email in order to gather more of your excellent material for and anticipate even more success with next year’s group, once September rolls around. Really appreciate people like you and the sharing that you do.
Jayne Kozal Koinonia Homeschool Belding, Michigan
How nice to hear from you and thanks so much for your kind words!
I really hope your students find the resources helpful. Evaluating websites sure is a crucial skill.
So great to have you as part of my email community too. I email with a new post twice a month. The next one will be next week.
Thanks again for your lovely comment, Jayne. You made my day!
This really helped me!
From Paris Region, Rich content! I really appreciate your work, well done! Yahia
Thank you so much, Yahia. Stay well!
Thank you so much Kathleen. These resources helped me so much. The students are engaged and enjoying the class.
So glad it’s helpful, Safinaz. All the best!
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Evaluating Internet Resources
Unlike similar information found in newspapers or television broadcasts, information available on the Internet is not regulated for quality or accuracy; therefore, it is particularly important for the individual Internet user to evaluate the resource or information. Keep in mind that almost anyone can publish anything they wish on the Web. It is often difficult to determine authorship of Web sources, and even if the author is listed, he or she may not always represent him or herself honestly, or he or she may represent opinions as fact. The responsibility is on the user to evaluate resources effectively. Remember to evaluate Wikipedia articles too; Evaluating Wikipedia gives some tips.
Ask yourself these questions before using resources from the Internet:
- Is the name of the author/creator on the page?
- Are his/her credentials listed (occupation, years of experience, position or education)?
- Is the author qualified to write on the given topic? Why?
- Is there contact information, such as an email address, somewhere on the page?
- Is there a link to a homepage?
- If there is a link to a homepage, is it for an individual or for an organization?
- If the author is with an organization, does it appear to support or sponsor the page?
- What does the domain name/URL reveal about the source of the information, if anything?
- If the owner is not identified, what can you tell about the origin of the site from the address?
Note: To find relevant information about the author, check personal homepages on the Web, campus directory entries and information retrieved through search engines. Also check print sources in the Library Reference area; Who's Who in America, Biography Index, and other biographical sources can be used to determine the author's credentials.
Knowing the motive behind the page's creation can help you judge its content.
- Scholarly audience or experts?
- General public or novices?
- Inform or Teach?
- Explain or Enlighten?
- Sell a Product?
Objectivity
- Is the information covered fact, opinion, or propaganda?
- Is the author's point-of-view objective and impartial?
- Is the language free of emotion-rousing words and bias?
- Is the author affiliated with an organization?
- Does the author's affiliation with an institution or organization appear to bias the information?
- Does the content of the page have the official approval of the institution, organization, or company?
- Are the sources for factual information clearly listed so that the information can be verified?
- Is it clear who has the ultimate responsibility for the accuracy of the content of the material?
- Can you verify any of the information in independent sources or from your own knowledge?
- Has the information been reviewed or refereed?
- Is the information free of grammatical, spelling, or typographical errors?
Reliability and Credibility
- Why should anyone believe information from this site?
- Does the information appear to be valid and well-researched, or is it unsupported by evidence?
- Are quotes and other strong assertions backed by sources that you could check through other means?
- What institution (company, government, university, etc.) supports this information?
- If it is an institution, have you heard of it before? Can you find more information about it?
- Is there a non-Web equivalent of this material that would provide a way of verifying its legitimacy?
- If timeliness of the information is important, is it kept up-to-date?
- Is there an indication of when the site was last updated?
- Are links related to the topic and useful to the purpose of the site?
- Are links still current, or have they become dead ends?
- What kinds of sources are linked?
- Are the links evaluated or annotated in any way?
- Note: The quality of Web pages linked to the original Web page may vary; therefore, you must always evaluate each Web site independently.
- Be very critical of any information you find on the Web and carefully examine each site.
- Web pages are susceptible to both accidental and deliberate alteration, and may move or disappear with no notice.
- Print out or download all pages you plan to use in your research so that your bibliography will be complete and accurate.
- Are you sure the Web is where you want to be? It may take an hour to find the answer to a question on the Web that would take a Reference Librarian two minutes to find. When in doubt, ask a Librarian!
Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.
6-Evaluating Sources
3. Evaluating for Credibility
Once you have determined that a source is relevant and current, it’s very important to evaluate it for credibility. That is, should you be able to trust that source?
The best practices for evaluating credibility have recently changed in interesting ways. Previously, we looked deeper and deeper into the source itself to evaluate it. That was sort of a “vertical” look at the source. But because of research conducted at Stanford University in 2017, now we recommend you instead look at what others have written about your source. Look across other sources at what they have to say about the source you are evaluating so that you are not just accepting what sources say about themselves. This method is called “lateral reading,” and we will show you how to do it below.
To sum up right now, if you have not considered what others have written about your source and its author and publisher, you have not evaluated its credibility.
The new recommendations stem from a 2017 Stanford University study that compared university students’ and faculty members’ actions to evaluate sources with those of professional fact-checkers. The fact-checkers’ actions were superior and faster, the study concluded. You can read about the study yourself at Lateral Reading: Reading Less and Learning more When Evaluating Digital Information .
How to Use Lateral Reading+
Here’s what we recommend for evaluating credibility of the relevant sources you have found.
The goal is to end up with a list of trustworthy sources. It’s from that list you will choose some to answer your research question in your final product and meet the rest of your information needs as you complete your final product. (You can read about your information needs in Chapter 3, What Sources to Use When .)
You will get very fast at this , the more you do it. Remember, you are only checking the credibility of these sources, not whether you will use them. You’ll end up identifying trustworthy sources you can safely use, not with a list you will use. (Help for figuring out which you will use is in Chapter 10, Writing Tips .)
Your mental attitude should be one of skepticism —make the sources prove to you that they are credible.
Steps for Lateral Reading+
As you take the steps below, keep brief notes on what you find out from Steps 1-5 so that you build a context with which to infer in Step 6 that the source is credible or not credible. (We give you the details about particular steps after this list of steps.)
- Bring up the relevant source on your screen. (If you are evaluating a relevant print source, have it in front of you.) As you’ll see below, you will be reading or viewing one aspect of this source at a time and checking those things out online.
- Open a new tab to evaluate the source as a whole. You can look on our suggested sites that may be helpful to quickly weed out individual sources that are untrustworthy. Make brief notes on what you find out.
- Open a new tab to determine what type of source it is. This is important because different kinds of sources usually have more or fewer processes in place to ensure credibility, which is a big clue to whether you can trust them. (To review kinds of sources, see Chapter 2, Types of Sources.) Make brief notes on what you find out.
- Open a new tab to evaluate whether there is reason to believe the author and/or publisher know what they are talking about. Or do they just have opinions? Make brief notes on what you find out.
- Open a new tab to evaluate major bits of information the source puts forward as fact. Make brief notes on what you find out.
- Make your inference about the source’s credibility by grading on credibility and record it in your notes: Give it an A (very acceptable), B (good, but could be better), C (OK in a pinch), D (marginal), or E (unacceptable). You may decide to use those sources that received a C or higher grade, although you should obviously prefer those with grades A or B, especially for answering your research question.
- Go on to the next relevant source you want to evaluate.
Do you notice how almost all of your time is spent looking outside the source itself during those steps? That’s lateral reading. The idea is to not spend much time reading a source that may not turn out to be credible.
What you should ignore online when determining credibility:
- Whether it’s a .com, .org, .edu, or .net. (It is a myth that domains of a URL indicate anything about credibility.)
- Whether it looks aesthetically pleasing.
- Whether the site has advertisements.
- Whether scientific jargon or statistics are used.
- How socially approved a website’s or its organization’s name is.
Details about Step 2
You’ll want to find out what others have thought of your source as a whole. Open a new tab and use Google or Bing to type in the name of the website, the publisher, and/or the author of the source. View some of your initial results.
Has anyone raised concerns about your source? If so, look for assessments of your source on a few of these websites: Wikipedia, NPR, Snopes, Politifact, SciCheck, FactCheck.org, and Washington Post Fact Checker. Wikipedia also has a list of fact-checking websites about political and not-political subjects.
What they found out may make you immediately distrust the source and rule it out. But their reviews of your source— or lack of a review –may be positive enough to keep you evaluating it.
Next, look for other websites’ assessments of your source among your search results. Your Google results page should show you above each title where each result was published, as is illustrated here for a search for consumerism ecology and here in Google Scholar for the same search. Did others identify any problems or good things about the source? Record that in your notes.
Are you trying to see what others are saying about a journal article? There are tools that track where journal articles (and some conference papers and books) are being cited. Scopus and Web of Science are two library databases that do this. Google Scholar also does this, as well. A few cautions:
- New content hasn’t had a chance to get cited.
- Some subject areas may make use of certain formats more than other subjects (books may get more citations in math than in physics, for example).
- Citing something doesn’t equal agreeing with it.
- Different subject areas have different citation levels. Areas like medicine or physics articles tend to get more citations than history or literature articles, for example.
- Some journals’ items get cited more because of their reputation, but that doesn’t mean other titles have bad content.
Details about Step 3
This step accounts for the “+” in “Lateral Reading +”. Here’s where you determine which type of source you’re evaluating, which involves thinking about who it was created for. If you get stuck, thinking about what the source’s purpose is can help.
Figure out who it was created for. Ask yourself whether it is (a) a popular source for everyone, (b) a substantive popular source created for educated people or those very interested in the subject, (c) a professional source created for members of a particular profession, or (d) a scholarly source aimed at scholars and others who want a deep view of a subject. (If you need to brush up on these distinctions, see Chapter 2, Types of Sources.)
You can often get fast clues to what kind of source it is even before clicking on it on your results page in Google or Bing. For instance, the URL may tell you the source was published in an online version of a newspaper or magazine.
Or maybe you searched for the source in Google Scholar or a library database, so you already know that your source is likely to be a professional source or a scholarly article in a research journal. For more on how to tell what each database covers (often called its scope), see Chapter 5, Search Tools. (If you are in a life sciences course, make sure to ask your professor whether Google Scholar is a good search engine for you.)
Wikipedia can sometimes tell you whether your source is a magazine, newspaper, journal, etc. For instance, see what Wikipedia says about Men’s Health , Investopedia , and Cell . Library catalogs can also tell you about sources, as these OSU Libraries full catalog entries do about Athletic Business and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes .
In general, substantive popular sources, professional sources, and scholarly sources tend to be more credible than popular sources. That’s because the creation of these kinds of sources often involves processes that help ensure their accuracy. (You still need to evaluate them, but it tends to be easier.)
Those processes include ways of preventing inaccuracies (including fact checkers for many substantive popular sources and peer review for scholarly sources) and ways of correcting mistakes that nonetheless occur. For instance, major U.S. newspapers correct previously published information every day or week and research journals retract journal articles whose inaccuracies becomes apparent. Even articles by Nobel laureates have been retracted, as this article in the journal Nature illustrates.
Because their processes are so strong, The New York Times and The Washington Post are considered to be newspapers of record . Other news sources such as the Wall Street Journal , Boston Globe , Los Angeles Times , Star Tribune in Minnesota, NPR, PBS, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, the Associated Press and Bloomberg wire services, and the BBC are also substantive popular sources with strong processes for credibility.
The same is true for magazines such as The Atlantic , The New Yorker, Harpers, National Review, Discover, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Psychology Today, Wired, Forbes, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Smithsonian, FiveThirty Eight, National Geographic, and Slate. TED is also a substantive popular source.
That doesn’t mean they and the many, many other credible substantive popular sources never make mistakes. But it means that those like the ones named take special care to be more credible than popular sources in general.
Here’s an essay called “ Journalism’s Essential Value” by the publisher of the New York Times about the importance of news sources remaining an independent source of information, unlike many newspapers in Europe (such as the Guardian and the Guardian U.S., which lean left politically) and what some would want here in the U.S. The essay was published in the Columbia Journalism Review (a professional source) on May 15, 2023.
If, after considering who the source was created for, you are still unsure of an online source’s type, determining the source’s purpose can help. To do so, consider what Internet neighborhood the source is published in.
To understand this concept and begin to use it, imagine that all the sites on the web constitute a community. Just like in a geographical community, there are neighborhoods in which individual sites hang out.
Audio: Neighborhoods on the Web
Listen to the audio clip (or read the text version) to hear how intuitive this concept is. After you listen or read, the next activity will show you how to apply the concept. Listen to Audio | View Text Version
Start making short notes of the clues you found to start building a context for your eventual decision to trust or not trust the source.
ACTIVITY—What Kinds of Sources?
Here’s a chance to start evaluating for credibility yourself. To find out what kind of sources are in the questions below, look at each source but then use lateral reading to look outside the source itself.
Source Links:
Scientific American The Economist Web of Science Birds of a Feather Video-Flock Together: Design and Evaluation of an Agency-Based Parrot-to-Parrot Videos-Calling System for Interspecies Ethical Enrichment Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel Duchamp Editor and Publisher Braiding Sweetgrass by Dr. Robin Kimmerer Science Friday podcast “Efficient Evolution of Human Antibodies from General Protein Language Models”
Details about Step 4
Now go back to your source and open up a new tab. This time you will be identifying who created and published your source and whether you think they are trustworthy about the information in this source.
As you consider what you learn about the author and/or publisher, ask yourself whether any of your results give you a reason to suspect they are interested in providing misinformation, perhaps for profit or for religious or political reasons.
If so, that doesn’t necessarily make it an unacceptable source, depending on your research question. But you should be aware of that potential bias of the source because it’s part of the context of the conversation around that source.
In addition, if you end up using and citing such a source, you may want to couch your language about it in your final product, as in “These authors say X about Y, although one has to keep in mind what might be their political bias.” That way, your instructor will know that you are aware of the whole conversation so far about this source, which always counts as a positive. (See our feedback about the sources in our last activity in this chapter called Your Turn to Evaluate for more on this subject.)
The more you know about the author and/or publisher, the more confidence you can have in your decision about credibility. Sites that do not identify an author or publisher are generally considered less credible for many purposes, including for research papers and other high-stakes projects. The same is true for sources in other formats, including videos and print.
Authors and publishers can be individuals, organizations, companies, or government agencies. (Webmasters put things on the site but do not usually decide what goes on all but the smallest websites. They often just carry out others’ decisions.)
If your source is online, you may see a hyperlinked author name. Click on that to see if you can get more information about the person. Sometimes, you may see information about them at the bottom of the source. If it’s a scholarly journal, book, or conference paper that you are examining, you will often see their affiliation (where they work) – often a university, research lab, museum, or some other institution with experts. Databases like Scopus and Web of Science also allow you to look up authors and see profiles of their research (just be careful to get the right person – some names are very common!).
You may find the publisher’s name next to the copyright symbol, ©, at the bottom of at least some pages on a site. In books, the identity of the publisher is traditionally on the back of the title page, with a few sentences about the author on the back cover or on the flap inside the back cover. (But, of course, remember that those comments are those the publisher decided to publish.)
If your source is a website, sometimes it helps to look at the source’s URL for whether it belongs to a single person or to a reputable organization. Because many colleges and universities offer blog space to their faculty, staff, and students that uses the university’s web domain, this evaluation can require deeper analysis than just looking at the address. Personal blogs may not reflect the official views of an organization or meet the standards of formal publication.
Unless you find information about the author to the contrary, such blogs and websites should not automatically be considered to have as much authority as content that is officially part of the university’s site. But you may instead find that the author has a good academic reputation and is using their blog or website to share resources he or she authored and even published elsewhere. That would nudge him or her toward the school’s neighborhood of the Intranet and toward credibility.
In this step, you are trying to figure out whether the author and/or publisher publishes serious information and has a “good” reputation. Is there reason to believe that the author knows what he or she is talking about? This involves considering what they have published before and where, where they work, and their academic and other credentials.
Don’t be automatically impressed with Ph.D. or M.D. degrees. A Ph.D., M.D., or other advanced degree is not automatically a marker of someone you can trust about the information in your source.
Ask yourself whether their academic degree makes sense with the subject matter they are writing about. Someone with a Ph.D. in chemistry, for instance, may not know anything about criminology and whether sentencing guidelines should be changed for Americans convicted of a crime.
College credentials are not the only thing that could matter. Maybe an author has substantial life experience or training that seems sufficient to make them authorities on the subject of your research question. For that reason, for example, a comparatively uneducated person who has lived for many years in a rural county may be able to provide you with information about what that’s like that is just as credible as what a university professor of rural sociology can provide.
ACTIVITY: Checking the Authors and/or Publishers
Check out the author and/or publisher of these sources on the web and select things you notice about them that you think should be considered in your decision about the credibility of each. Some answer options are not true, so don’t assume an answer option is true until you verify it.
Outsmart Your Brain: Why Learning is Hard and How You Can Make It Easy , by Daniel T. Willingham, Ph.D. Gallery Books, 2023. “What to Know about Romance Scams” “The Illusion of Moral Decline.” Mastroianni, A.M., Gilbert, D.T. The illusion of moral decline. Nature (2023). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06137-x#author-information
Looking for what else the author has written can include searching a large library catalog ( OSU Library Catalog , OhioLINK , WorldCat@OSU ).
If your source is an article, you might also look in Google Scholar . (While you can search for free, you may not be able to retrieve articles unless searching through a library.) Specialized library databases that cover the same topical area as information on a website can also be helpful (and free). For example, use the database ERIC (OSU users only) to locate any articles published by the author on an education website. Scopus and Web of Science are other good examples where you can look. OSU Libraries databases, arranged by subject or guides.osu.edu can also direct your search for information about an author or publisher.
Record whether you consider the author and/or publisher trustworthy in your notes and why or why not.
What should help you trust?
- Determining that the source is a substantive popular source, a professional source, or a scholarly source.
- Seeing that other sources you respect trust it.
- Its author/publisher seems expert.
- Its author/publisher seems uninterested in providing misinformation for profit or for religious or political reasons.
Details about Step 5
Go back to your source and start reading or viewing it, engaging in the argument the author is trying to make. Identify major statements of fact the author makes and then check a few of them out on Google, Bing, or any of the search tools or databases and other links listed in Step 4. Keep track of what others have said about your source’s statements of fact so that you get an idea of how well their ideas are accepted by others.
Remember, though, that if your source is especially innovative, not everyone may agree with some of its statements of fact and it could still be a credible source. You’ll have to use your own critical thinking skills about the topic and your research question as you consider your course’s credibility here.
For example, this New York Times story covers how long and hard two Australian medical researchers had to work to convince other doctors that a bacterium, rather than stress, causes most stomach ulcers—one even infected himself with the bacterium so as to cure the resulting ulcer with a drug. In the story, a former dean of the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine states that peer review “tends to adhere to things that are consistent with prevailing beliefs and models,” and “really new ideas usually just get thought of as crazy.”
That fits with the fact that the Australian researchers identified the bacterial cause of ulcers in 1979, but it wasn’t until 2005 that they received a Nobel Prize for the importance of that discovery and their persistence in convincing other doctors.
A note about data:
You can use the same skills to evaluate text for credibility to evaluate data. Use the 5Ws and 1H questions to ask yourself:
- Who created or owns the data? A non-profit or government organization? A corporation? A lobbyist? Does the individual or organization who created or owns the data have an incentive to collect or present the data in a particular way to support its mission?
- What variables were collected and how are these variables defined?
- Where did the data originate? If survey data, are the survey demographics relevant for your project? If scientific data, is the material or population sampled relevant for your project?
- When was the data first created or last updated?
- Why is the data important to you? Will it support your argument? Help you make a decision?
- How was the data created? What was the methodology used to collect the data? Was the methodology valid?
Data is influenced by the individuals who design and implement the processes used to collect it. Consider the influence of bias when evaluating both raw and reported data.
ACTIVITY: Your Turn to Evaluate
Use lateral reading to evaluate which of these organizations is more credible. (These sites were used in the 2017 Stanford study cited in Chapter 6.)
- American Academy of Pediatrics
- American College of Pediatricians
After Making Your Inferences in Step 6
Success! After evaluating for credibility and making your inferences, you should have a group of sources that you feel confident are not just relevant and current or in the right time period but that are also ones you can trust.
Choosing & Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research Copyright © 2015 by Teaching & Learning, Ohio State University Libraries is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.
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6-Evaluating Sources
Evaluating for Credibility
Next, you’ll be evaluating each of the sources that you deemed relevant.
What are the clues for inferring a source’s credibility? Let’s start with evaluating websites, since we all do so much of our research online. But we’ll also include where to find clues relevant to sources in other formats when they differ from what’s good to use with websites. Looking at specific places in the sources will mean you don’t have to read all of every resource to determine its worth to you.
And remember, the more you take these steps, the faster it goes because always examining your sources becomes second nature.
What Used to Help
It used to be easier to draw conclusions about an information source’s credibility, depending on whether it was a print source or a web source. We knew we had to be more careful about information on the web–simply because all the filters that promoted accuracy involved in the print publishing process were absent from most web publishing. After all, it takes very little money, skill, and responsible intent to put content on the web, compared with what has to be done to convince print publishers that your content is accurate and that they will make money by printing it.
However, many publishers who once provided only print materials have now turned to the web and have brought along their rigorous standards for accuracy. Among them are the publishers of government, university, and scholarly (peer-reviewed) journal websites. Sites for U.S. mainline news organizations also strive for accuracy rather than persuasion–because they know their readers have traditionally expected it. All in all, more websites now take appropriate care for accuracy than what used to be true on the web.
Nonetheless, it still remains very easy and inexpensive to publish on the web without any of the filters associated with print. So we all still need the critical thinking skills you’ll learn here to determine whether websites’ information is credible enough to suit your purpose.
5 Factors to Consider
Evaluating a website for credibility means considering the five factors below in relation to your purpose for the information. These factors are what you should gather clues about and use to decide whether a site is right for your purpose.
- The source’s neighborhood on the web.
- Author and/or publisher’s background.
- The degree of bias.
- Recognition from others.
- Thoroughness of the content.
How many factors you consider at any one time depends on your purpose when seeking information. In other words, you’ll consider all five factors when you’re looking for information for a research project or other high-stakes situation where making mistakes have serious consequences. But you might consider only the first three factors at other times.
Choosing & Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research by Teaching & Learning, Ohio State University Libraries is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.
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- Utility Menu
fa3d988da6f218669ec27d6b6019a0cd
A publication of the harvard college writing program.
Harvard Guide to Using Sources
- The Honor Code
- Evaluating Sources
From the many volumes and electronic resources that you have access to through the Harvard library system to the many resources available on the Web, finding information has never been easier. But at times, the sheer volume of information available to you can be overwhelming: How will you know which sources to rely on? How will you decide which sources are appropriate for a particular assignment? How can you determine if the data on a website is trustworthy? What's the difference between what a peer-reviewed journal offers and what a website like Wikipedia offers ?
Although the most useful sources for a given assignment will depend on the assignment itself, as well as on the kinds of sources generally relied upon in your field of study, there are some universal rules that will help you decide whether to use a source. Once you determine whether a source is worth looking at, you'll still need to figure out what you will do with it in your paper , how to cite the information and ideas you draw from it, and how to avoid plagiarism . When you write for an academic audience, you are responsible for making sure that any information you provide and any ideas you cite come from sources that are both reliable and appropriate for your assignment. The most reliable sources are those that have been vetted by scholars in the field—articles published in peer-reviewed journals and books published by academic publishers.
No matter what you're working on, keep in mind that not all sources are appropriate for your project; just because someone has written something down doesn't mean it is a reliable source. Before you decide to rely on a source, you should evaluate the source and decide whether it is appropriate to use in your paper. You should always determine the qualifications of the author, the purpose of the source (that is, in what context it was created), the scope of the source (what it covers and in what depth), and, where relevant, the currency of the source.
- Locating Sources
- Evaluating Journal Articles
- Evaluating Web Sources
- Evaluating Online Media Content
- What’s Wrong with Wikipedia?
- Making Decisions Based on Your Discipline
- Integrating Sources
PDFs for This Section
- Using sources
- Online Library and Citation Tools
Evaluating Websites & Internet Sources
- Criteria for Website Evaluation
- Evaluate Social Media, Images, and Digital Content
- Website examples
- Website Fact Checkers
- Information Timeline
Domain Names
DOMAINS/URLs
Domain name types and looking at the URL (or the DOI) for the page or site can provide insight as to the type of materials found there. Those most frequently encountered are:
- com – commercial business (the most common TLD)
- org – organizations (typically, nonprofit)
- gov – government agencies.
- edu – educational institutions.
- net – network organizations.
- mil – military
Criteria for Evaluating Information
Consider the following concepts as you navigate information for your classes. these criteria can be applied to print sources, internet, and media. , authority.
What are the author’s qualifications/credentials for writing on this subject?
Is the author's expertise well established or easy to find?
How reputable is the publisher or sponsoring organization .
- To determine the authorship and qualifications, try a quick Google or Wikipedia search for the name or organization
OBJECTIVITY/BIAS
- I s there bias? Check for tone, use of dramatic or inflamatory language, and particular points of view so you know what you are dealing with.
Are the goals or aims of the individual or group clearly stated or transparent?
Is the content up-to-date? Is the coverage outdated?
- Check to see if publication dates are omitted or if information hasn't been consistently updated. A big difference between the date information was placed on the web and when it was last revised can be a clue as to it's credibility.
COVERAGE / SCOPE
What topics are covered and to what depth?
- Coverage may vary. Sources will provide a small amount of information on a subject or a great deal. Be aware of the needs of the research or assignment criteria, scope, and topic.
AFFILIATION
Is there a corporate entity (i.e. company, government, organization, university) that supports this site?
Is there a link to information about the organization?
Is there a transparent way to contact them , how might this affiliation affect objectivity.
Can you identify what audience the material is intended for? Is it directed to students in elementary school? Middle school? High school? Is it for adults? Is it aimed at other experts in the field, or professionals?
How complex is the material?
Is the language or data used detailed and specific, or simplified, stability of information.
- It’s here today but will it be available tomorrow?
Can you cite it with some assurance that it will be found again?
- Look for permanent links to the resources you find, often located under the "share" option.
PRIVILEGE / ACCESS
- Are there limitations or gatekeeping as to who has access to the research, or who is able to publish the work?
- Do you need special permission or do you have to pay to access the information? (Never pay, ask a librarian for help first)
- Limitations as to who can access certain information can be impactful. Consider voices or perspectives that might be missing, left-out, or not prioritized in the work.
- Has the information been removed or extracted from the original source?
- It's harder to tell if the information is reliable if it has been taken out of it's original context.
Web site evaluation video
From Hartness Library CC/ Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)
CRAP Checklist for Evaluating Sources
- You can use this list as a quick checklist for evaluating your sources, whether they are websites or from SVC resources.
- You don't need to be able to answer all the questions but use the list as a general evaluating tool.
| URRENCY | |
| ELEVANCE | |
| UTHORITY | |
| URPOSE / OINT OF VIEW |
Check a Source
Additional help with evaluation
Some additional information on verifying websites:
- How to Find If a Website is Legitimate
- Google Safe Browsing site status
- SIFT Website evaluation starter course: Check, Please!
- SVC Misinformation Guide
- << Previous: Home
- Next: Evaluate Social Media, Images, and Digital Content >>
- Last Updated: Aug 15, 2024 12:19 PM
- URL: https://subjectguides.library.skagit.edu/websites
| All Content |
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| Stanford Guidelines for Web Credibility How can you boost your web site's credibility? We have compiled 10 guidelines for building the credibility of a web site. These guidelines are based on three years of research that included over 4,500 people.
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IMAGES
COMMENTS
When looking for online sources, using a database helps you find credible information. In order for a source to be included in a database, it usually must go through a screening process that requires individuals to verify the information in the text.
How can you determine if the data on a website is trustworthy? What's the difference between what a peer-reviewed journal offers and what a website like Wikipedia
This 2019 post demonstrates how to teach students how to evaluate websites during the research process. It's suitable for kids in primary school right up to high school students. Includes a free printable flowchart for your classroom.
Reliability and Credibility. Why should anyone believe information from this site? Does the information appear to be valid and well-researched, or is it unsupported by evidence? Are quotes and other strong assertions backed by sources that you could check through other means?
Make your inference about the source’s credibility by grading on credibility and record it in your notes: Give it an A (very acceptable), B (good, but could be better), C (OK in a pinch), D (marginal), or E (unacceptable).
Evaluating a website for credibility means considering the five factors below in relation to your purpose for the information. These factors are what you should gather clues about and use to decide whether a site is right for your purpose. The source’s neighborhood on the web. Author and/or publisher’s background. The degree of bias.
How will you decide which sources are appropriate for a particular assignment? How can you determine if the data on a website is trustworthy? What's the difference between what a peer-reviewed journal offers and what a website like Wikipedia offers?
What topics are covered and to what depth? Coverage may vary. Sources will provide a small amount of information on a subject or a great deal. Be aware of the needs of the research or assignment criteria, scope, and topic.
How can you boost your web site's credibility? We have compiled 10 guidelines for building the credibility of a web site. These guidelines are based on three years of research that included over 4,500 people. Updated June, 2002.
A comprehensive website credibility checklist for students to consider when deciding whether a source is credible enough to be included in assignments.