When you encounter an information resource, always consider the following criteria to determine if the source is reliable. In addition, always read laterally, which means vetting and corroborating information in real time via multiple sources to determine validity.
- Currency - When was it written? Has it been updated?
- Relevance - How is it relevant to your research? What is its scope?
- Authority - Who is the author or creator? What is their point of view?
- Accuracy - Has the information been reviewed or refereed? Does the language or tone seem unbiased?
- Purpose - Why was the source created? Who is the intended audience?
- Publication format - Where was it published? In what medium?
- Documentation - Did they cite their sources? Who did they cite?
Currency
- When was the source first published?
- What version or edition of the source are you consulting?
- Are there differences in editions, such as new introductions or footnotes?
- If the publication is online, when was it last updated?
- What has changed in the field of study since the publication date?
- Are there any published reviews, responses or rebuttals?
- Currency is especially important in the sciences where new developments occur frequently. Consider not only the date of the publication but also when the research was actually conducted. In the arts and humanities, currency needs to be judged as appropriate. In some cases, a study written years ago may be essential to understanding.
Relevance
- How is it relevant to your research?
- Does it analyze the primary sources that you are researching?
- Does it cover the authors or individuals that you are researching, but different primary texts?
- Can you apply the author's framework of analysis to your own research?
- What is the scope of coverage?
- Is it a general overview or an in-depth analysis?
- Does the scope match your own information needs?
- Is the time period and geographic region relevant to your research?
Authority
- Who is the author or creator?
- What else has the author written or produced?
- What are their credentials? Is there any indication of the author's education, professional affiliations or experience in the field?
- In which academic discipline(s) does the author have expertise?
- Has the author been cited in other bibliographies or literature reviews?
Accuracy
- Has the information been reviewed or refereed?
- Can you verify any of the information in another source or from personal knowledge?
- Does the language or tone seem unbiased?
- Is the information supported by evidence?
- Are there spelling, grammar or typographical errors?
Purpose
- Why was the source created?
- Is there an economic incentive for the author and/or publisher?
- Is it an educational resource? Is it an opinion piece or editorial?
- What research question(s) does it attempt to answer?
- Does the author maintain objectivity?
- Does the author provide more than one point of view?
- Who is the intended audience?
- Is it for scholars?
- Is it for a general audience?
Publication format
- Where was it published?
- Was it published in a scholarly publication, such as an academic journal?
- Who was the publisher?
- Was it peer-reviewed?
- Does the publication have a particular editorial position?
- Is it generally thought to be a conservative or progressive source of information?
- Is the publication sponsored by corporations or organizations? Do the sponsors have particular biases or agendas?
- Were there any apparent barriers to publication?
- Was it self-published?
- Were there outside editors or reviewers?
- In what medium?
- Was it published online or in print, or both?
- Is it a blog post? A YouTube video? An article from a popular magazine?
- What does the medium tell you about the intended audience and the purpose of the publication?
Documentation
- Did they cite their sources in foot/end notes, bibliographies, or lists of references?
- How reliable are the cited sources?
- If there are not sources cited, do you have any other means to verify the reliability of the information?
- Who do they cite?
- Is the author affiliated with any of the authors they are citing?
- Are the cited authors part of a particular academic movement or school of thought?
- Look closely at the quotations and paraphrases from other sources:
- Did they appropriately represent the context of their cited sources?
- Did they ignore any important elements from their cited sources?
- Are they cherry-picking facts to support their own arguments?
- Did they appropriately cite ideas that were not their own?*
*This content was adapted from a University of California Berkeley Library LibGuide.
