Evaluate Sources - UGS 302: Contemporary American Foreign Policy Problems - Mosser - LibGuides at University of Texas at Austin

Evaluating Information Online

Take bearings: Before diving into an article, take a step back to survey the digital landscape. What do you know about the group or organization? You can learn some things from the About pages, but you might find out more by doing a Google search to see what other people are saying. This can help you to understand the context and purpose of the source.

Lateral reading: Instead of reading an article straight through, or scanning up and down the same website, you might need to jump around a bit. Open multiple tabs in your browser to follow links found within the source and do supplemental searches on names, organizations or topics you find. These additional perspectives will help you to evaluate the original article, and can end up saving you time.

Things to remember:

The top result on Google is not always the best. Take a moment to scan the results and skim the snippets beneath the links.
Just because a website looks professional or credible doesn't mean that it is.
Sometimes you can find out more about a website by leaving the site itself.
You can use the command-F keyboard shortcut to search within an article for a name, group, or word.
Right-click on a link to open in a new tab.

Reference:

Wineburg, Sam and McGrew, Sarah. Lateral Reading: Reading Less and Learning More When Evaluating Digital Information (October 6, 2017). Stanford History Education Group Working Paper No. 2017-A1. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3048994

Definitions

Trustworthy, reliable.

Credible sources are generally understood to be accurate and reliable sources of information, free from unfair bias. See the evaluation criteria below for help with determining credibility.

Inclination, leaning, prejudice, predisposition

A biased source is one in which the creator has a view of the issue at hand that had an effect on how they created the source. From the synonyms above, you can see that this can be to a small or large degree. Everyone has biases, and someone with a bias can still write a worthwhile source, but it is up to you to consider how much of a bias is present. Be aware of the biases inherent when an organization has a legislative agenda or is trying to sell something.

Peer review is a process scholarly articles go through before they are published. Scholarly articles are sent to other experts in the field (peers) to ensure that they contain high-quality, original research important to the field. This is a measure of quality control other types of literature don't go through.

If you can't tell whether or not a journal is peer-reviewed, check Ulrichsweb.

access the database
type in the title of the journal
peer-reviewed journals will have a referee jersey ("refereed" is another term for "peer-reviewed") - example below

Guide - Popular, Scholarly, or Trade?
This guide will help you determine which category articles fall into, scholarly, popular, or trade.

Evaluation Criteria

Use the criteria below to help you evaluate a source. As you do, remember:

Each criterion should be considered in the context of your topic or information need. For example, currency changes if you are working on a current event vs. a historical topic.
Weigh all four criteria when making your decision. For example, the information may appear accurate, but if the authority is suspect you may want to find a more authoritative site for your information.
When in doubt about a source, talk about it with your professor or a librarian.

Criteria to consider:

Currency: When was the information published or last updated? Is it current enough for your topic?
Relevance: Is this the type of information you need (ex. a research study or scholarly article)? Is it related to your topic? Is it detailed enough to help you answer questions on your topic?
Authority: Who is the author or creator of the information (can be an individual or an organization)? Are they an expert on your topic? Has the source been peer reviewed? Who is the publisher? Are they reputable?
Accuracy: Is the information true? What information does the author cite or refer to? Is this a research study with methods you can follow? Can you find this information anywhere else? Can you find evidence to back it up from another resource? Are studies mentioned but not cited (this would be something to check on)? Can you locate those studies?
Purpose/perspective: What is the purpose of the information? Was it written to sell something or to convince you of something? Is this fact or opinion based? Is it unfairly biased?

Ask a Librarian

Chat With Us

EID login required