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9th - 12th grades

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A. 4. 3.
Making critical choices about information sources to use.

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What are the main challenges in knowing whether it is a valid source?

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Archives of African American Music & Culture Archives of Traditional Music Black Film Center/Archive Business/SPEA Information Commons Education Library Herman B Wells Library Indiana Prevention Resource Center Library IU Libraries Moving Image Archive Kinsey Institute Library Law Library LGBTQ+ Library Library at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community Life Sciences Library Lilly Library Music Library Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center Library Optometry Library Ostrom Workshop Library RPS Libraries Sciences Library Sinor Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies University Archives Wylie House Museum

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LibGuides: Evaluating Web Pages: Questions to Consider: Categories

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Content, except the Appendix, based on Jim Kapoun's

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This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Summary:
Evaluating sources of information is an important step in any research activity. This section provides information on evaluating bibliographic citations, aspects of evaluation, reading evaluation, print vs. online sources, and evaluating Internet sources.

Evaluating sources means recognizing whether the information you read and include in your research is credible. Despite the large amount of information available, both in print and online, not all of it is valid, useful, or accurate. Evaluating sources of information that you might include in your writing is an important step in any research process.

When writing research papers, not only will you be searching for information, but you will be evaluating the sources for credibility. You have to decide where to look, how to recognize credible sources, and how to cross-check your information. Learning how to evaluate effectively is a skill you need both for your course papers and for your life.

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Introduction - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University

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This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice. Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.

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What is the purpose of the information? Is it to inform, teach, sell, entertain or persuade?

Do the authors/sponsors make their intentions or purpose clear?

Is the information fact, opinion or propaganda?

Does the point of view appear objective and impartial?

Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional or personal biases?

Note - to help answer Authority and Purpose questions, check out a website's About page.

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Research Guides: Online Research: CRAAP Test

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Learn how to choose the best websites to use as resources for your research!

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Understanding how to assess the credibility of the information you come across in your study and research is essential. More information is at our fingertips than ever before (IBM, 2012) and the amount of information makes it even harder to determine which information can be trusted. As the terms 'post truth', 'fake news', and 'alternative facts' become increasingly prevalent in social discourse and the public sphere it's essential that you develop the skills to critically evaluate information yourself.

The term 'credible' refers to information that is not just believable but information that is convincingly true, accurate and reputable (OED Online, 2016)
Why use credible sources?
Using credible sources to back up your argument in your research gives your writing credibility. High quality resources supporting your arguments are more likely to translate into better results for your assignments. Conversely, poor quality references will be noticed and are likely to adversely affect your results.
What are scholarly and non-scholarly sources?
Scholarly information usually refers to information that you find from your Library's resources. In general, scholarly works are written by experts in the field and are vetted for accuracy and scientific rigour via accepted scholarly publishing standards such as peer review (for journals and conferences) or editorial processes in the case of books (Lavoie et.al., 2014). A level of credibility is assumed when an item is found within the Library. However even if your evidence is sourced from the Library, the quality of the information itself should be assessed critically.

Non-scholarly sources usually refers to information that you find freely available on the Internet. Content on the web can be written by anyone, for any purpose, without any expectation of trustworthiness or truthfulness. You probably already have a certain level of scrutiny when looking at these types of resources but it is important to be able to critically appraise your evidence and to use the appropriate information for the right context.
How to assess the credibility of your sources?
Whether you have sourced your evidence from the Library or the web, consider these questions when assessing the credibility of the evidence. The criteria below have been adapted from the C.R.A.A.P (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose) Test developed by the Meriam Library, California State University (2010).
Where does your content come from?

Is it scholarly?

Is the information supported by evidence?

Is that evidence referenced by the source?

Has the content been peer-reviewed or edited by a publisher?

Can the information be verified by other literature on the same topic?

Is the tone objective and impartial?

Is it free from obvious errors such as spelling or grammar?

Is it written by a scholar with expertise in the field?

If the answer to these questions is yes, it is likely that this is a credible source. Good work!
If the answer to any of these questions is no or I don't know, continue on through the questions below.
Who is the author and what are their credentials?

Is the author qualified to write on the topic?

Are their credentials visible?

Is the author affiliated with a recognised research institution?

The qualifications of an author and their affiliation with a recognised University or research institution is evidence that the author is knowledgeable in the field and has the expertise to contribute to the scholarly discourse on a topic. You should be wary if the source is written by an author who is not an authority on a subject area or if their qualifications and affiliations are not transparent.
What is the purpose of the work and is it biased?

Why has this work been written?

Who is the audience and what is the message?

Is it sponsored? Has a group or company paid the author to make these claims? Consider, for instance, lobby groups, special interest groups, corporate entities etc.

Is it biased? Is the author affected by political, social, economic, environmental, religious, cultural, personal or any other bias?

Bias can be present in scholarly and non-scholarly material and is often not immediately obvious. When assessing bias it is important to take note of the tone of the writing (is it selling you something, informing, persuading etc.) and whether the information is supported by evidence that can be verified independently of the source.
What kind of information do you need?

Do you require the most up to date research?

Do you want an overview of the body of knowledge of the field?

Do you need an historical perspective?

Different fields of research require different evidence to support their arguments. Many fields require the most up-to-date material, in which case the most recently published peer reviewed work will be most suitable for your needs. However, other types of research require different types of information. For example, a literature review evaluates all of the literature related to a field of study and will therefore require the researcher to identify all the research published on a topic, or more likely, to access textbooks and journal articles that summarise the body of knowledge in question. When searching for credible sources, think about whether the currency of the research is appropriate for your needs.

For the purposes of writing essays and reports in first year, you may find some peer-reviewed journal articles useful. It is just as likely, however, that you will find the information you seek from scholarly textbooks and synopses available from reliable sources on the web.
Internet Research
The internet contains the widest variety of information available to a researcher, allowing access to information that may be very useful, but may also be unreliable. For your research it is worth considering the following domain-name hierarchy as a general guide to the reliability of information:

Although picking sources from the top of this list is no guarantee of the credibility of evidence you find, doing so will generally guide you to those sources published by experts or by established institutions who are interested in reliable public knowledge. The farther down this hierarchy a source sits, the more likely it is to be influenced by private or commercial bias.
A note on Wikipedia
While you certainly would not cite a Wikipedia article as a credible source in your essay, Wikipedia can be a great place to start to get an understanding of a topic. It may also lead you to relevant, high quality resources. Try looking at the references of a Wikipedia page (at the bottom of each Wikipedia page) and assess the quality of the references you find. Many Wikipedia entries will cite scholarly resources (including books and journal articles) in their references. You can use FindIt@Flinders to locate these references, which if appropriate, can then be cited in your essay.
Is the content appropriate for your needs?

Do you need primary material? What kind and where can it be found? Archives, museums etc.

Perhaps you are looking for popular opinions on a topic. News, Twitter or Facebook might be useful.

Do you need to back up your claims with evidence? If so, scholarly resources are required.

When selecting credible sources, think about what type of content is relevant for your needs. Primary sources can include tweets, Facebook posts, news articles, archived materials, and museum specimens among other things. It may be appropriate to reference a primary source for your research but be sure you have independent evidence to back up or refute the claims.

Being able to assess the credibility of a source is a skill that you will develop over time as you become more familiar with scholarly, academic material.

If you're completely lost on how to find good resources for your assignments try starting out by looking at the references of the readings provided by your topic coordinator, tutor or lecturer on your topic. Check out our Library help guides for developing your search strategies or simply visit one of the Information Desks at any branch for individual support.
References
IBM 2012, What is Big Data? Viewed February 13 2017, < http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/bigdata/what-is-big-data.html>.

Lavoie, B, Childress, E, Erway, R, Faniel, I, Malpas, C, Schaffner, J, and van der Werf, T 2014, The Evolving Scholarly Record. OCLC Online Computer Library Center. ​Viewed February 13 2017, < http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/library/2014/oclcresearch-evolvingscholarly-record-2014.pdf>.

Meriam Library, California State University, Chico 2010, Evaluating Information-Applying the CRAAP Test, ​Viewed February 13 2017, < https://www.csuchico.edu/lins/handouts/eval_websites.pdf>.

OED Online 2016, Credible, adj. and n. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ​Viewed February 13 2017,< http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/44110?redirectedFrom=credible&>.

Radom, R, & Gammons, RW, 2014, 'Teaching Information Evaluation with the Five Ws: An Elementary Method, an Instructional Scaffold, and the Effect on Student Recall and Application', Reference & User Services Quarterly, 53(4), pp. 334-347.

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Search Smart: Evaluating your sources: Evaluating your sources

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Understanding how to assess the credibility of the information you come across in your study and research is essential. More information is at our fingertips than ever before (IBM, 2012) and the amount of information makes it even harder to determine which information can be trusted.

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LibGuides: Transitioning to College : Evaluate Sources and Information

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Learn to evaluate sources and information.

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Guides: Determine Credibility (Evaluating): The 5 Ws of Evaluating Sources

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Using credible and relevant sources is important. Learn what questions to ask and some strategies to apply for determining if your source is or isn't appropriate for your project.

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With professional journalism imploding and an exploding infosphere online, on cable, and on air that's bursting with questionable news and information, how can a consumer or citizen become informed without being misled?

This new information landscape is as vast as the Sahara, but full of mirages. You can look up almost anything on the Internet. But most of what's offered is really trying to sell a product, service, or point of view. Take, for instance, a website aimed at students, www.martinlutherking.org, that looks at first like a tribute to the slain civil rights leader but is actually a character assassination produced by white supremacists.

Explosion of Information

Comparing the infosphere of the late 20th century to that of the early 21st, resembles holding a child's balloon up to the Goodyear blimp. In just two decades the Internet has become an indispensable information utility. For those who know how to search and filter it, the explosion of widely available information is exciting and empowering. There's a silver lining in the digital cloud.

For those who can't distinguish fact from clever fiction, however, it can be bewildering and misleading, a fun-house mirror of the world. In a society where the well-informed have no more say in the voting booth than the un- and misinformed, news and information literacy has become a necessary skill for citizens.

So here's a tool for vetting news and information in the digital age. The "SMELL" test won't make you foolproof, but it can help you become a savvy information detective. Apply it to any content purporting to be factual from any source - face-to-face, to Facebook, to Fox, the New York Times, and online "to infinity and beyond." On some major issues, fact-checking websites will sniff out bias for you, e.g., Factcheck, Politifact, and Snopes. But most of the time, you're on your own.

Introducing the SMELL test

S stands for Source. Who is providing the information?
M is for Motivation. Why are they telling me this?
E represents Evidence. What evidence is provided for generalizations?
L is for Logic. Do the facts logically compel the conclusions?
L is for Left out. What's missing that might change our interpretation of the information?

Source

It's essential to know who is providing the information you want to check for reliability. That's because humans are incapable of objectivity. Even journalists suffer from biases - conscious and unconscious - arising from their gender, generation, geography, race and class. As Nelson Mandela has observed, "where you stand depends on where you sit."

Bias begins with self-interest. We may think of ourselves as honest as a nun in a confessional booth. But we are all self-interested information providers. For instance, when a cop asks how fast you were going, do you fess up - or provide a discounted estimate?

Quality news organizations can mute, but not moot, a reporter's biases with a diverse staff. But media often impose their own self-interested bias, a commercial bias. Such a slant may take the form of sensation displacing substance, pandering to audience prejudices, avoiding content embarrassing to major sponsors, or shaping news to attract those demographics that advertisers covet - upscale 18- to 54-year-olds - and shunning stories about younger, older and poorer members of the community. Or it could be "churnalism," cheaply assembled content suggested - and often supplied - by PR agents, but disguised as news.

It's useful to vet sources - both of information and those quoted within content - by placing them on a mental PIE chart. The P stands for Proximity - is the information first-hand or hearsay? The I is for Independence. Is the source free from conflicts of interest? And the E represents Expertise, either from long experience or specialized study.

What if you can't identify an information source? Or it has a vague name wrapped in stars and stripes, like "Citizens for American Progress?" Legitimate information sources will always disclose who they are. On the web, they will have an "about us" link to help you assess their independence and expertise.

If the producer of the content isn't identified, believe nothing from it. Within articles, be skeptical of anonymous sources. Their lack of accountability encourages unreliability.

Motivation

The source's motivation matters because if the purpose is persuading rather than informing, we should raise our skepticism shields. Those hoping to sell us on a viewpoint, a product, or a candidate are likely to cherry-pick only those facts that support their purpose. Unethical persuaders spread half-truths and sometimes outright lies.

How do you distinguish between persuaders and informers? Informers attribute every assertion of fact that's not based on common knowledge or the author's direct observation to a source identified fully enough for the audience to apply the PIE test. Informers practice fairness - dispassionately presenting all relevant sides to an issue in a context that aids audience understanding. Except possibly for empathy, the presentation is unemotional (anger, fear, titillation). No judgment of right or wrong is proffered. No action is called for.

Informers are faithful to evidence rather than ideology. They avoid sweeping generalizations. They practice transparency (explaining how they know what they claim to know and warning about what they don't). They call attention to their errors.

Evidence

Whenever we hear a new assertion about what's real or true, we should ask: How do you know that?

Trustworthy information providers should attempt to confirm or verify at least the most consequential or controversial claims of their sources. That requires finding at least one other source, independent of the first and with an acceptable PIE score, who provides a similar description of an event.

If the evidence supplied falls short or appears suspect, you can use the web to check fact-claims yourself. Just enter the claim in a search engine. Or use Facebook to ask for help from friends with greater expertise.

Logic

The fundamental question here is, does this make sense: externally - in light of everything else I know, and internally - is the evidence provided within the report adequate to support the conclusions reached?

Obviously, the more you know, the better your answer to the first question will be. That's why it's important to keep up with news from reliable sources. Information that jars you, or that's "too good to be true," should arouse suspicion.

Failures of internal logic common to news reports include: anecdotes presented as proof of trends; innuendo - suggesting conclusions that stretch beyond the evidence presented; and flawed comparisons, e.g., likening Saddam Hussein to Adolph Hitler.

Left out

Omission and marginalization are among the most powerful and subtle means of introducing bias because we tend to notice only what's emphasized.

It's helpful to look online for reports from alternative sources - especially those that differ by gender, generation, geography, race or class - that might present a different take on the same story. Often missing facts are linked to missing stakeholders. The least powerful are most likely to be overlooked.
A former journalist, professor, and now an author, John McManus founded a consumer report for San Francisco Bay Area journalism, GradeTheNews.org, at Stanford. His most recent book is "Don't Be Fooled: A Citizen's Guide to News and Information in the Digital Age." His books have twice won the annual research award of the Society of Professional Journalists.

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Don't Be Fooled: Use the SMELL Test To Separate Fact from Fiction Online - MediaShift

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With professional journalism imploding and an exploding infosphere online, on cable, and on air that's bursting with questionable news and information, how can a consumer or citizen become informed without being misled? This new information landscape is as vast as the Sahara, but full of mirages.