C.R.A.P.- Evaluating Websites

CURRENT
When was the article written?

New information can often be the most powerful. Informative articles that are older than 10 years should generally be avoided (unless you are evaluating a primary source). Dates can be found at the top of the article or at the very bottom (the year last updated). Also, check the links on the page. Do they actually work and connect you with the proper page? 

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RELIABLE
Where is their academic support?

First, skim the article and make sure it contains links to research studies, articles, or other academic sources. Also, scroll to the bottom and see if there are footnotes or references. Furthermore, a reliable page might even contain charts and graphs that support their claims. However, if you see a lot of statements that say "I think" or "In my opinion" (instead of research & data), the website is probably not that reliable. 

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AUTHOR
Who created the content?

Always look for websites that end in .gov or .edu. Why? Usually, these sites were created for academic/informative purposes.  Also, a CREDIBLE source usually (but not always) contains an author's first and last name. However, if a site has no author, it can still be credible as long as the ORGANIZATION that created it can be found somewhere on the website. And they are legitimate. For example, medical research (like the American Academy of Pediatrics) is often published without a specific author because their organization vets (scientifically double-checks) the article beforehand. Therefore, always check for an "About us" section that explains WHO is actually in charge of their organization. 

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PURPOSE
What is the purpose of the website?

Commercial sites (.com or .net) tend to have a lot of advertising and their purpose is generally to sell you something. It doesn't mean they are ALL bad, but you should definitely be skeptical. Organizations (.org) can be excellent, but as I mentioned earlier, you need to read the "About" page to find out who their members are. Sometimes .org's can be biased and misleading. For example, Stormfront is a white supremacist organization that created martinlutherking.org. This .org is basically a website full of racist propaganda, and yet, it remains a top result in Google searches for Martin Luther King Jr. 

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Analysis- Which website is the MOST CREDIBLE?

Tree Octopus

Video Games

Explorers