One method for evaluating sources involves the acronym, CRAP. Consider a source's Currency, Reliability, Authority, and Purpose/Point.
The following questions can help guide you:
Currency
- How recent is the information?
- Can you locate a date for when the resource was written/created/updated?
- Based on your topic, is it current enough?
- Why might the date matter for your topic?
Reliability
- What kind of information is included in the resource?
- Is content of the resource primarily opinion?
- Is is balanced or biased?
- Is there a Bibliography? In other words, does the creator provide references or sources for data or quotations?
Authority
- Can you determine who is the creator or author?
- What are the credentials (education, affiliation, expertise?)
- Is the publisher or sponsor reputable?
- Are they reputable?
- What is the publisher’s interest (if any) in this information?
- Are there advertisements on the website?
Purpose/Point of View
- What's the intent of the article? (to persuade you, to sell you something?)
- For web resources, what is the domain? (.com .edu, .gov?) How might this influence the purpose or point of view?
- For web resources, are there ads on the webpage? How do they related to the topic of the web resource? (for example an ad for ammunition next to an article on firearm legislation or against gun control)
- Is the author presenting fact or opinion?
Adapted from Dominican University