How to Assess Source Credibility

1. Where did you find this source? (Did you find it using a database or a search
engine? Is it posted on a wiki, a blog, or a forum?)
Using a database, like EbscoHost or ProQuest, is the best way to find a credible source
because these databases weed out articles that are not very reliable. Search engines, like
Google and Yahoo, do not distinguish between academic and personal source; they only
look for key words or phrases. In general, wikis, blogs, and forums are unreliable
because absolutely anyone can post anything on these sites. This is why Wikipedia is not
considered a reliable source by many instructors.

2. Who wrote it? What are the author’s credentials?

Usually, it is a bad sign if you cannot find a person or an organization willing to take
credit for an article or website. Once you find an author or an organization responsible
for the content of your source, look for what credentials they have. Does their career
field or area of expertise line up with the information they are presenting? For example,
if you are looking up information on what to do if your dog won’t eat his dog food, are
you more likely to trust the article written by a veterinarian or the one written by a
fashion designer?

3. When was the article written or page last updated?

Depending on the subject, when the article was written can be very important. If you are
researching the history of prison systems in the U.S., it doesn’t matter if the article is a
couple of years old because the information hasn’t changed. If, however, you are writing
about recent advances in chemical warfare, it is important that you find an article that
was written recently so that your information will be up to date.

4. Can you identify a bias? Are both (all) sides of an issue represented?
Look for favoritism within the article or on the website. If the article is about a
controversial issue, are several different takes on the issue represented? If the website
posits a solution to a problem, is it the only viable solution? For instance, of you look up
information on the death penalty, you will certainly find many articles and sites that are
biased either for or against the death penalty. Opinion pieces are always biased.

Sometimes bias is not as easy to identify. To revisit the example about the dog that will
not eat his dog food, you will probably find many sources that will give you lots of
different possible solutions to your problem. It is very likely that you will find several
sites that tell you to buy some type of medicine or a specialty dog food in order to get
your pet to eat. Often, these sites will be sponsored by a company that sells the product
they posit as the solution to your problem. These sites are biased because they only
present the possible solutions that will benefit them.

It is not necessarily bad to use a source that is biased. Sometimes you will want a
source that supports or opposes a certain opinion. You must always use biased
information responsibly. If your source is biased, you need to acknowledge this in
your paper.

Handout created by Emily Russell

ITT composition tutor
5. Does the article/site look professional? (Look for grammatical errors and
formatting issues.)
If there are many mistakes in an article or on a website, it is an indication that the article
or site was published quickly and without a lot of attention to accuracy. If the author
could not be bothered to proofread his/her work, there’s a good chance he/she didn’t
bother to check the facts either.

6. Can you check the facts on the site or in the article? (Look for citations,
footnotes, a list of links, or a bibliography.)
Any time an author uses information from an outside source, they should give credit to
the source and give the reader enough information that they could track down the source
on their own. If no outside sources are used, it is very likely that the piece is an opinion
piece. If sources are used but not documented properly, be suspicious of the credibility of
the source. If the author can’t be bothered to correctly document a source, he/she may
not have taken the time to carefully research the information. If a site has a list of links
to sources, try a couple of them. If the links don’t work, this may be an indication that
the information is out of date.

Handout created by Emily Russell

ITT composition tutor