Evaluating Sources

As you do research for a paper, you’ll need to know how to assess the validity and reliability of the materials you find. The sources you find have all been put out there by groups, organizations, corporations, or individuals who have some motivation for getting this information to you. To be a good researcher, you need to learn how to assess the materials you find and determine their reliability—before deciding if you want to use them and, if so, how you want to use them. Whether you are examining material in books, journals, magazines, newspapers, or websites, you want to consider several issues before deciding if and how to use the material you have found.

Suitability

Does the source fit your needs and purpose? Before you start amassing large amounts of research materials, think about the types of materials you will need to meet the specific requirements of your project.

General Materials – Encyclopedias, magazines, and online news sites are good places to get an overview of your topic and the big questions associated with it. These are a useful starting point, and they can help you present the issue in a way that attracts the average reader's attention.
Professional Materials – For high school research papers, look for books, journal articles, and websites that are written by organizations that do in-depth work for the general public on issues related to your topic. Professional materials are written by people who specialize in that particular field, so they can provide more depth and accuracy than a journalist might.
Specialist Materials – Primary and secondary research data is published in academic journals, and it's typically written by professional researchers for other professional academics. High school students are not the target audience. If you have a strong background in your topic area, or if you're doing a major research paper, you could venture into specialists’ books, journals, and websites. However, keep an eye on the time. If you've looked at a paper for fifteen minutes and have no idea what it's about, try a different resource.

Warning Signs

Here are some questions to help you detect unreliable material. If your source shows a warning sign, it may still be usable, but examine it carefully before continuing. When in doubt, confirm the information with another source.

Who is the author? Many websites won't list an author. If they don't, look at the website itself to see what organization owns it, and what their mission statement is. Can you find contact information or an address? Websites that don't provide background information are unreliable.
Is the author an expert in that field? If a biologist is writing about polar bears, that's a normal thing. If an economist is writing about education policy, they might not know very much. If the writer is associated with a specific conservative or liberal think tank, the arguments they present probably reflect that organization's ideology. An ideological agenda does not mean that you have to avoid material. Rather, read it with an awareness that the writer holds a specific view.
How many references are there? If the author doesn't cite any sources, how can you confirm what they're saying? If they cite only one source, take a look at that source and examine its suitability.
Is it outdated? If you're writing about a contemporary issue, relying on a source from ten years ago might be unwise. If it's something historical, perhaps there's no cause for concern. Be wary of web pages that don't show when they were written or updated.
Is the topic volatile? A famous proverb goes, "The first casualty of war is truth." War, religion, and politics are divisive topics. If you're writing on these topics, plan to spend extra time on research. Look out for lies, poorly explained statistics, and dogmatism (expressing one's opinion as fact).

Things to Do

If you're looking at a source and some of the above warning signs show up, what should you do? There is no single correct answer; it depends on the situation, your goals, and what other sources you can find. Here are some possible actions.

Research the author or organization. See if the author or organization has some background that suggests they're reliable on the issue. If someone has an advanced degree or a decade of experience in the field, that's a good sign. On the other hand, some think tanks have specific political agendas, which can bias the information they produce, even if they have experts on staff.
Look for a second source. If you can find two sources that make the same claim, cite both of them together. This doesn't guarantee the information is true, but it's a step in the right direction. For long research papers, it's usually a requirement to cite multiple sources, so you were going to do this anyway.
Ask someone knowledgeable. Perhaps you have a friend, family member, or teacher who knows something about either the source or the topic itself. Maybe they can help you figure out whether a source or claim is likely to be reasonable. Then you can decide which, if any, of the above steps to take.
Mention your suspicion. Depending on the paper you're writing, perhaps you can quote a source but mention questions of reliability. Be clear about who is claiming what, and that it hasn't been verified.
Keep an eye on the time. As a high school student, you have a busy life with many things to do. Try to find reliable sources within a reasonable amount of time, and then start writing.
Throw it away. Sometimes you have to forget about a source and move on. Propaganda, fake news, and hoaxes have always been an issue, and in recent years generative AI has produced countless new unreliable websites.

References

Authorship & Authority. (2023). Excelsior Online Writing Lab, Excelsior University. Retrieved 2024. CC BY-SA 4.0. Some of the above content was copy/pasted from here.
Evaluating Sources. (2023). Excelsior Online Writing Lab, Excelsior University. Retrieved 2024. CC BY-SA 4.0. Some of the above content was copy/pasted from here.
Meyers, A. (2013). Longman Academic Writing: Essays to Research Papers. Pearson.
Source Suitability. (2023). Excelsior Online Writing Lab, Excelsior University. Retrieved 2024. CC BY-SA 4.0. Some of the above content was copy/pasted from here.

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