Critical Evaluation of Sources
 

When you gather information for a research paper, it is important to think about the quality of what you propose to use as the basis of your research. This guide will give you some ideas about what kinds of questions you might ask yourself about your resources.

Here are some basic questions you will want to ask yourself when you are evaluating information resources:

Not all of the resources you choose may be of equal quality, and just because you find something in print, doesn't mean that it's true. If you find it on the Internet, you must be even more suspect as to the quality of the information. People write things for many reasons, and sometimes have "axes to grind;" that is, they may have a specific point of view to get across.*

EXAMPLE: A respected journalist believes that there is a direct correlation between pornography and violence against women; she wrote an editorial in the New York Times about this. Another journalist points out that in Holland, pornography is legal and profuse; the rate of violent acts against women in Holland is extremely low.

If you're writing a paper on Pornography, you might want to include both points of view, and say what the bias of each journalist's opinion is: in this case that one believes that freedom from violence against women is the primary value, and that the other believes that freedom of speech is the primary value.

*When you use the Internet or the World Wide Web, you may find that you will generally get more reliable information from sites that have .gov, .org, or .edu in their URLs than those that are "dot coms." Dot coms often have excellent information, but remember that way down deep companies or corporations are probably trying to sell you something.

How Accurate is the Information?
Are there facts, figures, or statistics that can be verified? Does the content go against what you know to be established facts, beliefs, or accepted history? Could the information be construed as propaganda, misinformation, or disinformation?

How Current is the Information?
What's newest isn't always what's best, but often it is a consideration. If you're looking for information on terrorism, a book that was published in 1965 will probably only be helpful from the historical aspect. Think about how much has changed regarding how we view terrorism since 1965--this book would miss quite a bit, don't you think?

It's not always easy to tell how current the information in a book is. A book may say it was published in 1995, but it could be a reprint of a book that was first published in 1939. Reputable publishers will make this clear on the title page or on the back of the title page. The library's catalog will probably tell you this also.

If you're looking at an article in a 1970 issue of Time magazine, you know that the information can't be any newer than 1970, but you may not be able to tell how current the report's information was even at the time it was published. The information you get from the publication date and from the library's catalog is what we call "external" evidence. Look also for the "internal" evidence. That is, in the author's bibliography or footnotes, does he or she use recent sources, or are they all 20 years old? Or, if the article doesn't have footnotes and works cited, does it mention other recent work on the topic in the body of the article?

How Authoritative is the Information?
The book or the article may tell you what the author's credentials are. If s/he is an "internationally known" or "foremost" authority with lots of degrees from well-known universities, or the chairperson of the Biology Department at Harvard, or some such, that might mean something. The book may also tell you what other books the person has published. You may be able to find a book review of this very book, which may give you more information about the author. Once again, this may or may not mean much. Although Linus Pauling was a Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, his work on Vitamin C and the common cold did not have the same credibility in some circles that his work on the hydrogen bond did. Because someone is an expert in one field, does not mean that s/he is an expert in another field.

Refereed journal articles are ones that have been subjected to "peer review"; that is, other experts have scrutinized the article. Work in "refereed" scholarly journals is generally accorded more academic credibility than is journalistic work. You can limit to "scholarly or peer reviewed" in EBSCO databases like Academic Search Premier and Business Source Premier, and in some OhioLINK Research Databases, such as PsycINFO or CINAHL.

What is the Scope or Content of the Work?
Is this book or article narrow or broad in scope? That is, what information does the book claim it covers, and what does it really cover?

EXAMPLE: We have a book called Notable American Women. If you read the preface, you'll find that it only includes biographies of women who died before 1950. It wouldn't be fair to criticize this book for not including Eleanor Roosevelt. She wasn't included in the scope of this work. If it left out Abigail Adams, you could justifiably criticize it. (Actually, Abigail Adams is in Notable American Women.)

How Objective is the Work?
Can you determine if the author has a particular point of view or bias? Does the page rely on emotion or opinion, rather than facts? When you look at a web page, the domain can tell you a lot about the type of page that it is (gov, mil, org, com, edu, etc...). On .org or .net sites, they are often non-profit organizations presenting information about a cause, belief, or their own organization. They are under no obligation to give well-rounded coverage to the subject, although many sites do. It is your responsibility to be able to "sift" through the information and figure out what the opinion is that's being stated, whether it's accurate or not, and whether you believe what's being said--it's your determination as to if it's a credible source for your research.

EXAMPLE: There are a number of websites out there that have organizational affiliations, like The Republican Party, National Organization for Women, or Right to Life. Each of these represent their particular point of view. The information they give on each of their pages gives their "take" on issues and facts they present. Just because they don't give the other side doesn't make them wrong--it just means you have to use a "critical eye" when you look at the information and realize you are only being given one side of the topic.

When you're just starting with research, sometimes deciding what the various sides or opinions are about a topic can be tough. We subscribe to a resource called Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. This resource can help provide you with information about various sides or opinions on popular and controversial current event topics.

How Original is the Work?
It may be a rehash of frequently published material which is available in more authoritative form elsewhere. Or perhaps it is a popularization of work that is inaccessible to most people because of its technical nature. As such, it may have special merit. Remember, none of these criteria is absolutely definitive. They are just things to think about as you select the resources you are going to use in your paper. Your teacher may require you to annotate your works cited--these would be some of the things to consider as you write your annotation.

What is the Publisher's Reputation?
This is harder to gauge now than it once was because the technology of publishing has changed so drastically in the past 30 years. Now anybody can be a publisher, and there are dozens of new ones every day. Still, there are many established publishers who are sought out by reputable authors, and the other way 'round. McGraw Hill, Prentice-Hall, Academic Press, Elsevier, Ingenta, just to name a few, are names that are recognized for quality.

Usually new publishers don't give themselves names like Fly-by-Night Press, but see if you recognize the name of the publisher, or if it is a subdivision of a well-known publisher. If it is a well-known publisher, this might mean something about the quality of what's inside the book. Reputable publishers don't like to be caught napping and have a book they have published be condemned as trash. This doesn't usually help sales. It's not unheard of, however. Teachers and librarians can sometimes be helpful in identifying publishers. In EBSCO databases (Academic Search Premier, Business Source Premier, and others...) and the Electronic Journal Center, you can link to the publisher's web site and find out not only about the publisher's background, but the scope of the journal as well.

Useful websites that give guidelines for evaluating information:

Updated: 02 April 2004

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