29 Evaluating Sources of Information

Consider the points below when judging the quality of information sources.

Author’s Qualifications or Credentials

• Is there an identified author?
• What is the author’s occupation, position, or affiliation?
• Is the author a professional working in the field?
• What is the author’s educational background?
• Is the author qualified to write the article or book?
• Is this information based on the author’s specialized knowledge, or does this information represent their personal opinion?

Publishing Information

• Who is the publisher?
• What do you know about its reputation?
• Who is the intended audience for the publication—the general public, a middle school student, a college student, or an expert in the field?
• Are periodical articles reviewed (or “refereed”) by experts before publication? (To find out, check Ulrich’s International Periodical Directory online from the Library’s website).
• Is the periodical published by a professional association, a university press, or by a popular press?
• Is the periodical authoritative? (Journal of Marriage and the Family would be more authoritative than Ladies’ Home Journal.)

Bias or Objectivity

• Does the author have a particular point of view—religious, political, cultural, or professional—that might bias their findings or cause the information to be presented in a particular light?
• Does the publisher represent any particular group or have a discernible bias?
• Is the book or article intended to inform or persuade?
• Is the language inflammatory?
• Does the author present well-reasoned arguments supported by verifiable data?

Length

• Is the length of the article or book chapter appropriate to the level of research? A 5 to 15 page article or chapter would, in many cases, present more in-depth coverage of a topic than one with only 1 or 2 pages.

Timeliness

• Is the date of publication a factor in your research?
• If your topic is current, is the information presented recent enough to be relevant?
• If your topic focuses on an event in the past, do you need resources published during that time?
• Is the information presented likely to have changed since publication?

Methodology

• What methods were used to obtain data?
  • o Personal opinion, experience, or observation (not always reliable)?
  • o Interviews?
  • o Original research? Library research?
  • o Questionnaires?
  • o Lab experiments?

Presentation

• Is the purpose of need for the research clearly stated?
• Is the author’s methodology stated in sufficient detail to be replicated?
• Does the author provide supporting evidence to back up facts, hypotheses, or arguments?
• Are charts, graphs, photos and maps, etc. included to illustrate important points? Are they supportive of the research?

Documentation

• Is a bibliography provided to show where the author obtained information?
• Are there footnotes citing sources for information?
• Can information presented be verified by other sources?
• What types of sources are listed? Are they scholarly or popular?
• Are they up-to-date?
• Are they appropriate to the type of research performed?

Conclusions

• Are conclusions drawn?
• Are they logical and appropriate to the research?
• Is their significance clear?
• Are they justified by the research?
• Are they skewed or distorted by bias?

♦ Note: Please ask a Reference Librarian for assistance in locating additional information about authors and publishers.

_{Adapted from a handout written by Janet Dagenais Brown}

Evaluating Information from the Internet

When evaluating websites, consider these questions.

1. Where was the information published and who published it? Does the website have a particular bias or pattern to what they publish? Can you tell if the information has been edited or fact-checked? Who is the audience for the information?
2. Who is the author? What credentials does the author/sponsor have? Is an email address included so that you my contact them? If an individual author is not named, is there a link to a homepage to see who is sponsoring the page?
3. On what date was the information posted or updated? Is your topic time-sensitive? Can you use only recent information? Or is your topic historically oriented?
4. Are there any special features, such as Works Cited list, to support the information? Are there links to other pages? If yes, what kind of pages are they? Do these pages supplement the information given?
5. What is the overall purpose and tone? Who is the intended audience? Check the domain name for clues (.edu, .com, .gov, .net) to determine what type of page this might be. Is there an “about” or “what is” link that outlines the purpose of the pages?
6. What does the actual content suggest? To what depth does the website/page cover the topic? Does it seem to be superficial? Do you get a background overview, thorough coverage, or an in-depth analysis of specific aspects of your topic?

♦ NOTE: You might want to compare information found online with information from a standard research resource (encyclopedia, book, or journal article) not only to fact-check, but to compare the depth and breadth of the information you receive.

Evaluating Periodicals

You should consider what types of periodicals you need for your research. Does the assignment require you to use only scholarly journals, or is it acceptable to use popular magazines? The guide on the following pages may help you decide.

Popular Articles (magazines)

• Often written by journalists or professional writers for a general audience
• Typically uses language easily understood by general readers
• Rarely give full citations for sources
• Usually tends to be short articles

♦NOTE: Many visual clues are not available in online articles. Take extra care in evaluating them. If you are not sure if an article is scholarly or popular, as a Reference Librarian.

Scholarly Articles (journals)

• Written by and for faculty, researchers, or scholars (chemist, historians, doctors, etc.)
• Use scholarly or technical language
• Tend to be long articles about research or theory
• Include full citations for sources
• Refereed or peer reviewed, often. (An editor and other specialists review the articles before accepting them for publication.)

♦NOTE: Book reviews and editorial are not considered scholarly articles, even when found in scholarly journals.