Evaluating Sources

Choosing Sources

As you choose sources, spend some time skimming them before you add them to your bibliography and begin to take notes. For books, skim the index (at the back of the book) and table of contents (at the front of the book) for your keywords. When skimming shorter works like articles, look at subheadings and section breaks as well as the first and last paragraphs.

Two important questions arise as you look at each of your sources:

  1. Is the information provided relevant and useful to your project? Remember, you have a focused research question that will be answered by a specific claim or thesis. Choose sources that directly relate to your claim.

  2. Is the source valid and credible? Much of the information on the internet is not edited or verified. Citing such sources will undermine your own credibility, detracting from your argument, and may result in wrong information in your work.

It is your job to evaluate EVERY source you use for quality. Your argument is only as good as your evidence.


Source: Thumbs Up - Like by Marco Fieber under a Creative Commons license

SIFT a.k.a. "The Four Moves"

Media literacy researcher Mike Caulfield proposes the SIFT model to evaluate sources, also referred to as "the four moves."

    • Stop

    • Investigate the source

    • Find trusted coverage

  • Trace claims, quotes, and media back to the original context

The SIFT model differs from the CRAAP test in its acknowledgment that researchers must go beyond the source. You can't evaluate a source in a vacuum based solely on the information it presents on its own behalf, you need to triangulate and verify.

Stop

    • When you first start to read a page STOP and ask if you know and trust the source.

    • If not, go on to the other moves BEFORE you cite or share the information.

    • If you feel yourself getting overwhelmed or sucked down a rabbit hole, STOP and remind yourself of your goal: if you are doing in depth research you may want to track down and verify individual claims. If you are looking for an interesting story, a basic explanation, or something to share on social media, just knowing the source is generally reliable might be enough.

Investigate the source

    • Know WHAT you're reading BEFORE you read it.

    • Is your source a Nobel prize-winning expert in the field? Is it industry-sponsored content about the benefits of buying a certain product? Does that change your interpretation of the information?

    • We won't tell you to always trust the experts or never trust sponsored content, but it's a good idea to know the expertise and agenda of your source in order to understand its significance and trustworthiness.

Find trusted coverage

    • If the specific article isn't as important as knowing whether the CLAIM it is making is true or false, you might be better off leaving that source and finding trusted reporting on that topic.

    • Rather than investigating THIS source, find the BEST source you can, or find MULTIPLE sources to look for expert consensus.

Trace claims, quotes, and media back to the original context

  • Many of the sources we find online are not original reporting or research, and information can easily become simplified, exaggerated, accidentally warped, or intentionally manipulated in the process.

    • Information on the internet often lacks CONTEXT. Go back to the original source (or a high-quality secondary source) to get the complete picture.

    • Who is the speaker or publisher? What's their expertise? Their agenda?

    • When evidence is presented, what was left out? What's the original context?


Source: Summarized from SIFT (The Four Moves)

Read our AHS Library guide to Media Literacy & Fake News for more information about evaluating news sources!

The CRAAP Test for Evaluating Sources

You may also use the CRAAP Test to help you determine what's a quality source and what's, well, you know.

Currency (timeliness of the information)

  • When was the information published or posted?

  • Has it been revised or updated?

  • Does your topic require current information, or will older sources work as well?

  • Do all of the links work? (for websites)

Relevance (importance of the information to your topic/question)

  • Does the information answer your research question?

  • Who is the intended audience?

  • Is the information at an appropriate level, or is it too easy or difficult?

  • Did you look at a variety of sources before choosing this one?

Authority (qualifications of the source)

  • Who is the author, publisher, or sponsor?

  • What are the author’s credentials or affiliations?

  • Is the author qualified to write about this topic?

  • Is there contact information available?

  • Does the URL reveal anything about the author or source (e.g., .com, .edu, .gov)? (for websites)

Accuracy (how correct the information is)

  • Are there clear and credible citations for the information provided?

  • Has the source been reviewed or refereed, such as in a scholarly journal?

  • Can you verify the information from other sources or personal knowledge?

  • Are there spelling, grammar, or typographical errors?

Purpose (why the information exists)

  • What is the purpose of the information? To inform, teach, sell, persuade?

  • Do the authors make their purpose clear?

  • Is the information based in facts and evidence, or opinions and propaganda?

  • Does the point of view appear objective and impartial?

  • Are alternative views presented fairly?

  • What kind of bias is present?


Source: The CRAAP Test is adapted from Meriam Library at California State University, Chico

Research Tip

Pay special attention to evaluating websites and their creators. Just because a site is attractive and well designed does NOT mean it is credible.

You may need to click around to find the author’s name, date, publisher, etc. Look for tiny print at the top and bottom of pages. Try navigating back to the homepage of a website and look for "about us" links.

You can try to access higher levels of the site by DELETING parts of the URL up to each slash. For example:

    • http://www.cdc.gov/phpr/zombies.htm is the CDC's Zombie Preparedness guide

    • http://www.cdc.gov/phpr/ is the homepage for the CDC's Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response

    • http://www.cdc.gov/ is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention main homepage

Also remember that although the domain may provide a clue as to the intention of the site, there are no guarantees. For example, just because a website has a .edu address does not mean that its contents are endorsed by the university. It may be a personal page, student work, etc.

If you're not familiar with the website or organization, try searching for OTHER websites about that website, rather than trusting what the organization says about itself. Wikipedia can be a good place to start, paying attention source notes and the editing history of the article.

Or try an advanced search like this:

  • ACLU -site:aclu.org

This searches for the keyword ACLU but excludes (minus sign) all results from the domain (site:) www.aclu.org.

Jumping from one source to many other connected sites is called READING LATERALLY and it is a critical skill in evaluating information.

Digital Handouts

CRAAP Test

Learn More