CRAAP Test for Sources
Currency Relevance Authority Accuracy Purpose
Currency: Is this a recent article? Does the date affect the content or context? If the article is not recent, the claims may no longer be relevant or have been proven wrong.
Relevance: Is the article relevant? It is useful? Does it fill your information need? While some articles may appear to be addressing a current topic, you must read past the headline and determine the relevancy of the content for your purposes.
Authority: Who is the author? Has the author written other articles on the same or similar topic? Have they demonstrated expertise and experience? What is the source/publisher? Does it have an agenda or bias? You will need to leave the original source to do this investigation.
Accuracy: Can the content be verified by multiple sources? Is it factual? Are you aware of and do you understand the sources biases? What is the original source of the story? This is particularly important with images that are shared widely across social media.
Purpose: Does this article provoke an emotional response? The intent of a valid sources is to inform. While an emotional response to specific information is to be expected, inaccurate articles are often written for the sole purpose of provoking anger, outrage, fear, happiness, excitement or confirmation of ones' own beliefs.
Adapted from: Meriam Library, California State University
Primary Research in the Sciences
Evaluating Sources
Credits: NC State Libraries
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