It is important to evaluate all the sources you come across during your research journey to ensure that you are using relevant and reliable information. Using credible sources adds to the quality of your research and your credibility as an author.
Questions to Consider
Asking yourself the following questions about a source can help you determine if it is credible.
Author: Who is the author? What qualifies them to talk about the topic?
Date: When was the source created? Has the information been updated since publication?
Publication: Where was the source published? Do they have a review process?
Purpose: What point of view is represented? Why was the source created?
Accuracy: Can you verify the claims? Are there citations or links to other sources?
Evaluating Sources for Credibility, from North Carolina State University (3:14), discusses how to determine if a source is credible and what criteria you can use to evaluate the source.
Lateral Reading
When evaluating a source it is important to go beyond what you see on the page. Lateral Reading is a way to validate the credibility of a source by fact checking and seeing what other sources have to say about it.
To read laterally:
Get off the website that you are on
Open new tabs in your browser
Search for the source you are evaluating
Find out what trusted sources are saying about your source or its claims
For more about Lateral Reading, watch Sort Fact from Fiction Online with Lateral Reading from Stanford History Education Group (3:47) and Lateral Reading from the University of Louisville (3:34).
