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Evaluating the Credibility of Online Sources.

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Evaluating the Credibility of Online Sources.

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Grades: 9 - 12

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Foundation: IV Curate
Domain: Think - Learners act on an information need by:
Competency: Making critical choices about information sources to use.

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What are the factors one should consider when evaluating the legitimacy of an online resource?

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The "POPULAR" Method for Evaluating Online Sources

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Meriam Library California State University, Chico 400 West First Street Chico, CA 95929-0295 Ph: (530) 898-6501 Fax: (530) 898-4443 Contact

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Table of Contents

Part 1: The Need to Evaluate Internet Resources
Part 2: Evaluating Online Resources
Part 3: Checklist on Evaluating Online Resources
Part 4: Improve Your Evaluation Skills
Part 5: Content Issues: Plagiarism, Copyright, and Accessibility

Why Do We Need to Evaluate Online Resources?

Everyone and anyone can create content online. Today, it's hard to determine whether an internet resource you find is authentic or not.
Evaluating online resources is an important step in any research process. Identifying trustworthy content should be part of your research journey.
If you're looking for factual resources, search through newspaper publications, TV news, journals, official pamphlets, books, and magazines. But, nowadays people opt to search for information on the Internet. They tend to believe anything posted on the Internet without even checking for credibility.

Satire and fake news sites publish erroneous data; people believe these sites because of their persuasive, believable nature. If you're looking for a credible resource, you should avoid hoax sites as this may affect the veracity of your study.

Meanwhile, many content publishers rely heavily on copying content and owning those as theirs to get decent followership. Duplicating content and passing it as if it is their own content is copyright infringement or plagiarism.

In this guide, we will help you improve your knowledge and skill in evaluating online resources. We will guide you on how to check a resource for authenticity and credibility.

Moreover, we will discuss skills that you will need to assess a resource such as speed reading and skimming. As an evaluator, you should be familiar with the different citation and referencing styles. Also, we will review several content issues like plagiarized content, DMCA, and copyrights, and web content accessibility.

Evaluating Online Resources

There are several aspects that you should look for in evaluating online resources. You should check:

who published the content (Authorship),

where was it published (Publication),

when was it published (Currency and Relevance),

the truthfulness and integrity of the facts (Accuracy),

how it is written and presented (Purpose and Objectivity),

and what references are cited within the article (Links)

Authorship

The author of the content is a concern when considering the eligibility of the content. First of all, the author should be an expert on the subject discussed in the article. He should have the credentials to back up his knowledge of the subject matter.

Usually, the information about the author can be found on the website along with the content. The name of the author can be found below the title, on the side of the article, or at the bottom. Sometimes, more information on the author is found below the article, also known as an author's bio. An author may be credited if he is oftentimes mentioned in other authoritative websites.

But, it is not easy to verify an author's background through the Internet. Website articles and resources rarely have fact-checkers or editors for copyediting an article. Another thing to consider is that authors vary in tone and purpose. Some do it for their personal blog. Other authors are advocates of a cause, while others do it for marketing their product or service.

Publication

If the information about the author is not present, the publisher of the resource article can be checked for authority.

Take a quick look at the website. Are you familiar with the publication name? Is the publisher reputable and credible on the subject matter? Look at the website name, its logo, the URL of the website, and other indicators that can prove its reliability on the topic. One quick look at the URL can help you determine if it's a reliable source or not. Trustworthy websites end in .org, .edu, .gov, or any recognizable web address.

Another way to check the publisher's site is via it's About Us and Contact Us page. These pages will contain information about the publisher. You can countercheck their details by conducting another search.

Reliable websites publish content that is relevant or under the same scope as the resource page that you found. Check how often do they publish content and if they published related content as well. News and publication websites (NYTimes, BBC, The Washington Post, TIME, etc.), are authority sites for facts. Consider the resource's credibility if the publisher has mentioned or been mentioned by authority sites.

Currency and Relevance

In conducting research, the currency and timeliness of data are important in making inferences for data gathering and analyses.

David Loshin, President of Knowledge Integrity, is a well-known thought leader in data quality and management. He has defined the difference between currency and timeliness when it comes to data:

"Currency," Loshin explained, "refers to the degree to which data is current with the world that it models. Currency can measure how up-to-date data is, and whether it is correct despite the possibility of modifications or changes that impact time and date values. Currency rules may be defined to assert limits to the lifetime of a data value, indicating that it needs to be checked and possibly refreshed."

On the other hand, timeliness refers to the time expectation for the accessibility of data. Timeliness can be measured as the time between when data is expected and when it is readily available for use."

Information changes throughout the years. On the Internet, it's easy to get lost among the billions of data available at your fingertips. Even academic articles such as theses and investigative reports can have obsolete data. Out-of-date content has information that is not relevant or applicable in today's time. How can you determine if the content that you're looking at isn't outdated? How do you check if the data you have is current and timely?

Look for the date of publication. Oftentimes, it is located near the title of the resource. You can look for the date at the side information of the article, and even at the end of the article.

Currency is a modern issue; some websites update their articles to adapt to the modern world. Data does not become obsolete, but you need to check its relevance to the current times. For updated content, look for the date of publication and the date when it was recently changed and updated.
Here's an example from Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL):
The American Psychological Association (APA) is used as a citation style in academic and scholarly articles for social sciences. Since it started in 1929, the APA style has changed over the years and it is in its 6th edition.

With that said, updated resources oftentimes tag relevant statistical data with proper citations and referencing. Aside from that, these resources mention other resources and link back to them, regularly updating any link references should they find that those links are obsolete.

Accuracy

In writing, accuracy refers to a writer's correctness in using the language system. This means that the writer's use of grammar and vocabulary should be correct and as good as it could be.

Minimal errors are virtually present in all kinds of publications, but poor spelling and grammar can easily reflect how careless an author is, and this may result in distrust. Again, web resources are prone to technical errors since not all web publications go under the scrutinizing eye of a copy editor.

Online resources can be verified easily through a quick search on the Internet. Other resources provide a reference list that can help in double-checking facts cited in the article.

Purpose and Objectivity

An online resource clearly serves its purpose  it should teach, inform, explain, or persuade. By reading the article, it should become evident what the article aims to impart to its readers. The author should not be biased with his views reflected in the article unless stated otherwise. You should comprehend whether the content is backed up with facts or based on opinion and propaganda. The content should show its intended audience.

Links

Links are used to citing and credit references found on other websites. During the evaluation, links on the content are useful and relevant to the topic of the content. On the other hand, links on the content should proceed to an existing web page. In any case that the links within the content proceed to a 404 page or "Not Found", the content may be outdated, thus may be unreliable for new information.

Checklist on Evaluating Websites

We'll help you assess online resources easier with this concise infographic checklist brought to you by Hosting Facts:

Improve Your Evaluation Skills

Effective evaluation of online materials requires a set of skills. To effectively evaluate online materials, you must be able to do proper speed reading and skimming of content, as well as citing of references. Possessing these skills will give you the ability to objectively and successfully critique online materials. Let's discuss in detail how these skills can help you in evaluating content.

Speed Reading and Skimming

Before you will be able to evaluate any material, you will have to read it first. Going through the whole thing, even up to every punctuation mark, can eat up your time. Reading entire materials will not be practical especially if you have a lot of materials piled up. Therefore, it is vital that you possess speed-reading and skimming skills.

The average reader can run through approximately 200 words per minute. A good reader can reach 400 to 500 without sacrificing comprehension of what he had just read. Any more than 500 words risk losing comprehension so going beyond that is not advisable. We shall then consider those who can read at least 400 words a minute as a speed reader. It is, however, crucial that comprehension is maintained as there is no point in being able to finish a material quickly if you were not able to pick up anything from it. Speed reading is, therefore, a fast-paced manner of reading that retains understating of the material.

There are two, speed reading, techniques: scanning and skimming. Scanning is a very quick running through of the material in an attempt to find a specific piece of information. If you pass through an article very quickly in search of a name, a date, an amount, or the likes, what you are doing is scanning. Skimming, on the other hand, is rapid reading that goals to get the main ideas contained in the material in an effort to get the general overview of the content. Skimming is then considerably slower the scanning.

In trying to evaluate online materials, what you would most likely do is to skim through them. Unless, of course, if you're trying to look for specific information that you are trying to verify. Skimming through an article allows you to quickly complete a material without losing its essence.

Skim effectively and finish a lot of materials with less time. Always remember than comprehension must never be sacrificed for speed. Speed reading is a total waste of time if you did not understand what you have just read.

Citation and Referencing Styles

In order to check the validity of the facts stated in online material, references must be presented so that you can verify them. It is the responsibility of the author of the material to include citations and references in a way that follows standard referencing styles, but as the evaluator, you must also be aware of how to do this so that you can use it as criteria in critiquing the said material.

First of all, have a check on the references for the material. Make sure that these are credible resources. A lot of satirical sites and content are available on the web and one may easily come across them and eventually use them as part of the material. The writer must be careful enough to distinguish the validity and credibility of the site or content that he is basing his material from.

There are a couple of ways to include ideas from other materials into your own. It can be done by quoting, summarizing, or paraphrasing. Quoting is done by directly placing portions or parts of what was included in your resource material. It is a word-for-word placement of the resource material. Summarizing is providing a shorter version of the resource material while acknowledging that your material is based on the information you got from the source. Paraphrasing is trying to reword your source material but with the necessary attribution of where you got the idea from.

These three methods of including ideas from other materials should have a list of references. This list of references must obey one of the referencing standards and styles. There are two prevailing referencing styles that are being followed: the APA format, and the MLA format.

The Modern Language Association (MLA) format is distinguished by the following characteristics:

1. Authors' and editors' names are spelled out completely. If there are more than three authors, list the first one only and then write "et. al" as a substitute for all other authors.

2. Important words in a title are capitalized.

3. The shortened name of the published is placed.

4. Only the city is placed on the place of publication.

5. Dates are placed at the end of the citations.

6. The second and subsequent lines are indented while the first line is made to align with the left margin.

7. The in-text citation uses the author's name and page.

On the other hand, the American Psychological Association (APA) format is as follows:

1. All authors are listed and use the last name, and then the first initial.

2. Only the first word in a title is capitalized.

3. Full names are used for publishers.

4. Includes state abbreviations for the place of publication.

5. Dates are placed after the author's name.

6. The first line of the citation is indented while subsequent aligned to the left margin

7. In-text citations use the author's name, date of publication, and page number.

Always remember that citation is done because you have the responsibility to give credit to the author of your source material. You would not want to steal other people's work. Also, you would not want other people from passing off your work as their own so you must also do the same for the work of others.

The MLA Style Center is the best and most interactive guide you can check out for your research. Aside from a citation guide, they also have a research format guide for your paper and an FAQ section.

Meanwhile, to see how APA citations are usually written in reference lists, visit this guide made by The University of Western Australia. It's already updated to the 6th edition. Here you can check how different resources are cited, such as Books and eBooks, Journal articles, Newspapers & Magazines and Web sources (pages, blogs, social media, etc).

Content Issues: Plagiarism, Copyright, and Accessibility

Plagiarism, copyright infringement, and problems with accessibility are some of the issues that you may stumble upon when dealing with online content. Let's discuss in detail the implications of each of these content issues.

Plagiarism: Problems of Duplicity

One of the biggest sins you can commit while writing online materials is plagiarizing, which is the omission of reference to the original source of information, which gives the impression that it is the writer of the material at hand who originally said a statement even if that is not the case. This can be done on purpose or as a result of neglect. Even if it is by mere neglect that the citation was not made, plagiarism is still inexcusable. Plagiarism can be committed against written or spoken texts, and even against graphical content such as photos, drawings, sketches, paintings, and the like.

As an evaluator of online materials, your goal is to identify whether the author of the material you are assessing committed plagiarism, may it be partial or total in nature. Plagiarism should never be tolerated, and it is the responsibility of the evaluator to ensure whether or not plagiarism was committed in any piece of material that he handles, especially those that the general public can see.

Plagiarism is really unfair to the original owner of the unduly cited content. It takes credit away from him and awards it to the plagiarizer. All the hard work, creativity, and that the original owner of the content is put into waste, while the plagiarizer is praised for creating outstanding content - of course, why would anyone copy something that he does not consider as at least a good write-up, statement, or photo?

DMCA and Copyright Issues

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines copyright as the exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute the matter and form of something (as a literary, musical, or artistic work). With a copyright, you can sue others who try to reproduce your work without your permission or consent. It is a protection given to the original creator, or to whom he grants the said protection, to benefit from his work.

In essence, violation of copyright (or more commonly referred to as copyright infringement) and plagiarism are similar. However, copyright infringement backed up by a legal construct while plagiarism is more of an ethical issue for academic, journalistic, or corporate institutions. Both of these promote originality and creativity as they protect the original creator of the work.

Copyright infringement and plagiarism do not go hand-in-hand. Not all cases of copyright infringement are cases of plagiarism as well, and vice versa. You can plagiarize content that does not qualify for copyright, and you can also commit infringement even if you have provided the necessary citation.

When talking about copyright, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) almost always follows. The DMCA is a copyright law of the United States which was made to implement two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), as well as to heighten the penalties given to those who commit copyright infringement. The provisions of the DMCA will be discussed in detail on future write-ups focused on the topic. For now, it must just be fully understood that copyright infringement is a serious matter and there are strong laws against it.

As an evaluator, you must deal with copyright infringement issues before matters get worse. It is your duty to uphold the observance of applicable laws and ethical standards.

Content Accessibility

One billion people, or 15 % of the world's population, experience some form of disability, and disability prevalence is higher for developing countries. One-fifth of the estimated global total, or between 110 million and 190 million people, experience significant disabilities. - WorldBank.org

One billion people. A significant amount of this population has access to the Internet, but sadly, not all can access content found on the Internet. With the increasing demands for website accessibility, several countries have already pushed for accessibility legislation to support the disabled users' rights to information.

Disabled users commonly addressed by these efforts are those with visual, mobility, auditory, seizures, and cognitive disabilities. Those with visual disabilities include low vision and color blindness. Motor disabilities include those who lack muscle control due to tremors or neurological conditions. Hearing impairments such as deafness are included in auditory disabilities. Meanwhile, people with seizures are a special case; those triggered by visual strobes or flashing effects are mainly affected in this category. Last but not least, cognitive disabilities range from developmental to learning disabilities.

How Does Website Accessibility Help These Users?

Website accessibility helps users to understand and access a website's information with the help of certain tools that aim to assist them in browsing a website. But, if a website is not optimized for accessibility, disabled users will have a hard time browsing a website.

There are available tools for the auditory and visually challenged to interact and use the Internet. Text-to-speech software and/or text-to-Braille hardware help blind users to access a website. For poor-sighted users, having a function to make the texts enlargeable would be helpful especially those without prescription glasses. Highlighting linked texts through underlines or contrast highlights will aid visually impaired users, especially those who are color blind.

Those with disabled motor abilities will benefit from large clickable areas like buttons on a website since they will lack precision in clicking small buttons. Moreover, coding a website that will let users navigate the website easily via a keyboard or a single switch device can help them browse through the website even without using a mouse or a standard keyboard.

Today, playing videos has been less complicated as well. Those with hearing complications can now watch and understand the context of these videos through closed-captioning or via sign language. Meanwhile, flashing effects on websites are known to trigger seizure attacks. Minimizing or fully avoiding these effects will not be put those who are prone to seizure at risk.

Developmental or cognitive disabilities perhaps is the biggest challenge of them all. With various content available in different formats and in different contexts or degrees of reading difficulty, those who have a difficult time comprehending these content will shy away from a resource. Ideally, resource content should be easy to understand, written in plain language, and equipped with instructional diagrams and even audio-visual aids.

To know more about website accessibility, Hosting Facts has another resource guide for web designers and developers on how to make your website accessible to all. This includes a brief history of web accessibility, steps on how to make your website accessible, and tools you can use to assess your website for accessibility in accordance with the guidelines set by WCAG 2.0.

With online content made accessible to everyone, even people with disabilities can understand and learn more information from the website.

Further Readings and References

APA citation style: Introduction. (n.d.) Retrieved July 21, 2016, from https://guides.library.uwa.edu.au/friendly.php?s=apa

Disability Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved July 20, 2016, from http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic

Evaluating Information. (n.d.). Retrieved July 20, 2016, from http://guides.library.jhu.edu/c.php?g=202581

Evaluating Internet Resources. (n.d.). Retrieved July 20, 2016, from https://www.library.georgetown.edu/tutorials/research-guides/evaluating-internet-content

How to Make Websites User-Friendly and Accessible for Everybody. (n.d.) Retrieved July 21, 2016, from https://hostingfacts.com/website-accessibility-guide/

Loshin, D. (2011). The Practitioner's Guide to Data Quality Improvement. Burlington, MA: Morgan Kaufmann.

The MLA Style Center. (n.d.) Retrieved July 21, 2016, from https://style.mla.org/

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The Complete Guide to Evaluating Online Resources - hostingfacts.com

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Table of Contents Part 1: The Need to Evaluate Internet Resources Part 2: Evaluating Online Resources Part 3: Checklist on Evaluating Online Resources Part 4: Improve Your Evaluation Skills Part 5: Content Issues: Plagiarism, Copyright, and Accessibility Why Do We Need to Evaluate Online Resources? Everyone and anyone can create content online.

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Practically anyone can create a website.

Schools, businesses, government entities, churches, and libraries create websites so people can learn more about what they do.

Individuals can create personal sites or blogs to write about their families, friends, work, or any other subject.

Corporations can make websites to promote their products, and political activists can publish websites to promote their cause. Anyone with an idea and internet access can create a website and fill it with just about any content they want.

As of 2018, there are over 1.8 billion websites in the world, many of which are protected by free speech and anti-censorship laws. Website owners can print anything they want, true or not, without worrying about the consequences.

As a result, life online has undoubtedly changed the procedures used to gather and assess information forever.

Even in the cut-and-paste Age of Wikipedia, evaluating sources based on their authority, relevance, and accuracy is still a requirement for serious writers.

Bad sources, like bad seeds, can bear bitter fruit for those who use them.

Fortunately, the oceans of data and globe-spanning inter-connectivity of the internet make verifying sources easier than ever as well.

There are time-honored practices of using primary sources, identifying their authors, and verifying the accuracy of the information they provide. But writers can use additional tools to keep their sources credible and authoritative.

Some, such as Grammarly's Plagiarism Checker, can be used to make sure the content being cited is original. Other tools, such as the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University, provide in-depth advice and examples for evaluating sources both on and off the web.

The future of written communication is surely set not in stone, but in the glowing ether of cyberspace. Yet as long as humans continue to rely on the written word for the exchange of information, wisdom, and insight, effective and compelling writing will demand sources that are credible, authoritative, and accurate.

With so much content and so little oversite, determining which information is reliable can be a daunting task. But failing to do so could leave you looking foolish or worse. Thankfully, there are some easy steps you can take to evaluate the credibility of a website.

Tips for Checking the Source

How did you find your source? Top results in Google are often won by commercial websites with big budgets. Sources found via social media have the same problem. Read the tips below to get an idea of what to look for online.

This guide will help you whether you are a hobbyist web surfer or a professional or academic researcher. What's more, we have links to resources with even more in-depth information on things like primary and secondary sources.

Start with Sites You Know

If we had to choose between getting your world news from The New York Times or Smitty's Basement Newspaper, most of us would grab the Times, because it's a name we know and trust.

The same is true for internet research. If you want to know the results of last week's election, visiting your favorite news outlet's website is a great place to start.

If you want tips on investing, pick an investing company you respect and see if their website provides the information you're looking for.

There may be better information out there, but starting with a company you already trust is a good way to narrow your search. Then if you do decide to look up information from other sources, you can compare it to what you found first.

If the election results on Smitty's Web Press don't agree with the ones you found on BBC News, chances are Smitty is not the most reliable journalist.

Another helpful tip is to look at the date of an article as well as the dates attached to studies and resources within an article.

If an article cites a study done 10 years ago, it brings into question the reliability of the information. This is especially true if there are more recent studies available on the subject.

Another good indication that an article may be outdated is broken or "dead links."

Many website articles include links that visitors can click on for more information (like those at the bottom of this page). If those links don't go anywhere, chances are the article is old. One dead link is probably nothing to worry about, but a bunch of them should raise a red flag.

The creator of a legitimate website will take the time to keep links up to date so visitors can learn more. The presence of dead links is a good indication that the website is no longer maintained.

Check Credentials

One of the best ways to evaluate an article or other type of content published online is to check the author's credentials. If you're looking for information about toothaches, a certified dentist who has been practicing for over 20 years is a more reliable source than a hobbyist with a blog.

If the author provides a list of references to validate their credentials, even better. Remember, you can write anything you want online, so just because someone says they're a dentist doesn't mean they actually are.

Many sites, including trusted news sites, leave the writing of articles to staff or freelance writers. These may not be professionals in the field they're writing about; however, the best of them will rely on professional sources and often include quotes from experts.

Check the TLD and Domain

One of the simplest ways to determine the credibility of an online resource is to look at the purpose of the website, which can often be learned from the ending of the site's address.

Every website ends in a Top Level Domain (TLD). This is the bit after the last period in the domain name. For instance, WhoIsHostingThis.com ends in .com, which lets you know that this is a commercial website.

It the most popular TLD on the internet and can be used by any person, business, or other entity, which means if you're researching something, .com sites require more evaluation that some other types of sites.

Make sure to start with those trusted sources, and then look for any potential bias. Businesses often use .com for their sites, and in most cases, those sites are created to help them sell a product or service.

Therefore, any information on their website is liable to have a bias toward getting a visitor to buy whatever it is that's for sale there. If you're looking for an honest comparison between iOS and Android, you should assume that anything you find on Apple.com is going to have a major bias toward the former.

Alternatively, an address that ends in .edu belongs to an educational institution such as a college or university.

A visitor may find an article there written by a professor who is an expert on a particular topic. The professor may include their credentials at the end of the article as well as citations. These elements serve to make the website a more reliable online resource.

As a note, students are also able to contribute to many .edu websites. It's a good idea to look for citations when dealing with a student's writing to ensure credibility.

Also, if you're searching for information for a research paper, you probably need to look for peer-reviewed articles. Just because a professor publishes something on a .edu website doesn't mean their peers have reviewed and validated the information.

An address that ends in .gov is a government website. If you're looking for reliable information about government policy, tax codes, or a political office, these sites are a great place to start.

The TLD .org was originally intended to be used by non-profit organizations, but any organization can register a .org address. Much like .com sites, you should expect that anything you read on a .org site will have a bias toward that particular organization's mission or goals.

At the time of this writing, there were over 700 top-level domains available, including everything from .barber to .ninja.

While these unique TLDs may prove useful when you are looking for a particular type of service, they can't guarantee the credibility of any content. It's always beneficial to read all online articles with a critical eye.

Digging Deeper

If you're still not sure, do a little snooping. Read other articles on the site, particularly ones written by the same author. Do you trust their opinion on other topics? Is the writing consistent and strong? Do articles seem unbelievable or even made up?

Facebook feeds are notorious for posting articles from the fake news site The Onion as factual stories! Reading other articles may also help you detect a website's biases - nearly all sites have them - so you can better judge the information they're presenting.

The presence of many misspellings on a website is also a clue that it's not a credible resource. Someone who creates a legitimate website designed to provide people with factual information takes care with both spelling and grammar in order to appear more professional.

Check Your Local Library

The internet is a great source of information, but when accuracy counts, the library is still one of the best places to do research. Most libraries now allow patrons to utilize their research tools online, so you can still do your research from the comfort of your computer chair.

Libraries have access to research databases, many of which require a subscription and aren't available through traditional search engines. These databases allow you to search for articles in print and online journals and books.

Since many of these resources are peer-reviewed, the information you find in them is not only written by professionals but has been reviewed and approved by other professionals within their field.

Don't Trust Your First Source

Finally, no matter where you find information, it's a good idea to double-check it against other sources. You can do this by performing additional online research or checking some print publications at the library.

If you find the same information on several other legitimate websites as well as in a print publication, it increases the odds that the information is accurate.

Step-by-Step Guide to Evaluating Web Resources

Now that you know the overview of finding and evaluating web resources, you can use this guide to help you with the process in a step-by-step manner.

Check the URL

1. Personal Pages:

1. Not always reliable, try to learn more about the author.

2. URL usually includes the person's name.
If their name isn't the site name, it will likely be in the URL after a tilde or percentage sign.

2. Type of Domain:
The domain type should match the content type:

1. .com = commercial

2. .edu = educational

3. .mil = military

4. .gov = government

5. .org = nonprofit

3. Who Published It?

1. Find the agency or person that published the article

2. Reliable publisher = reliable content and authors

3. Look at the first part of the URL between http:// and the first /.

Who Wrote It?

Find out who is accountable for the information.

1. Find the author/organization responsible for the content.

2. Look for a link or About Me/About Us/Background page that will tell you more about them

3. Look for info on their education and experience

4. Evaluate what you know about them and decide if you believe they are qualified to write about the topic.

Timeliness

An outdated source is not always credible.

1. Current topics: publishing dates are important

2. Outdated topics: date should be near the time the content became known.

Check Sources

Look at how sources are cited and what type of source is used.

1. Scholarly content should always have source info, and should not be an opinion piece.

2. Check the sources for reliability and workability.

3. If the content is reproduced from another source, go to the original source to ensure it has not been altered.

Links from other reliable sites shows credibility

1. If they are the only one linking to the site (from other parts of their site) then it may not be reliable.

2. Find out who is linking to them:
Type the URL into the search box on Alexa.com. Click on "Get Details". Learn about site's traffic info, who is linking to them and other details.

3. Find Related Sites
Type the link into Google search box. Paste the URL directly after the colon, no spaces. Difference search engines may have different results so try more than one. If you don't see any links, shorten the URL.

Overall Evaluation

Once you have reviewed all of this info, you can decide whether you believe
the source to be credible.

1. Since the internet is open to everyone, remember that you may be looking at false info or opinions instead of fact.

2. If you're unsure, go to a reference desk in the library or ask an expert for advice.

Sources

A Visual Guide to Evaluating Sources on the Web

Here is a more detailed graphic (with animated elements) to help you evaluate information sources on the web. The step-by-step guide is probably better to use on a day-to-day basis, but this graphic contains a lot more detail.
If you would like to use this graphic in your work, see right below it for more information.

How to Use This Graphic

We are very proud of our data visualizations. Each one is the result of the work of many talented people over a long time researching, writing, editing, rendering. And we get flooded with requests to use them. We are happy to oblige. But under strict guidelines.

Non-Profit Use

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The following link will download the graphic: Evaluating Web Resources: A 60 Second Guide.

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To learn more about determining the credibility of an online resource, please visit:
Main text written by Jaramy Conners with additional material by various members of the WhoIsHostingThis.com Team. Compiled and edited by Frank Moraes.

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What is a Credible Source? How to Evaluate Web Resources

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With the enormous amount of information on the internet, and all the people and groups with different agendas, how can you find good information? How can you tell if that information is coming from a credible source? This article explains all and includes a checklist, tips and an animated step-by-step guide.

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Common Sense Education