Geology: Evaluating Sources

Evaluating sources is a key part of the research process. Assignments require credible and/or scholarly sources, and depending on the source, it can be difficult to determine if it is credible. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help figure out whether or not your source is credible and appropriate for your research needs. 

• Author: Find the author(s) name or do a quick search on them. What is their education? What is their field of expertise? Does their lived experience give them credibility on the topic? Have they published other works on the topic?  
• Sources: Did the author provide evidence for their claims? Is there a bibliography or list of sources? Note that this could also be in the form of footnotes, attributed quotes, or hyperlinks. 
• Age: Look for a date of publication or a copyright date. When was it published or last updated? Based on your topic, is the information out of date? Have there been significant changes since the work was produced? 
• Publisher: Find the name of the publisher or the name of a parent website. What types of sources do they provide? What authors do they publish? Do they do peer-review on their sources?  

It's also important to consider the author's objectivity. Is there overt bias in the work? Are multiple perspectives being incorporated?  

Mike Caulfield created the SIFT method to help analyze information, especially news or other online media, in 4 steps. It involves going beyond the work and searching for additional information. 

• Stop
  • Stop before you read or share. 
  • Do you know this website or source of information? What is the reputation of the claim and the site? 
• Investigate the Source
  • Where is this work from? Who is the publisher? Is there a person or organization funding/publishing that might have overt bias? 
• Find Better Coverage 
  • If there is a claim you are trying to verify, find the best source you can on the topic or scan multiple sources on the topic. What is the general consensus? Are their more trusted sources? More in-depth sources? 
• Trace Claims, Quotes and Media to the Original Context
  • Follow the links to the originals by clicking on links or opening the original reporting source in a bibliography. What was the original context? Was it fairly represented in the source? 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Source: Vanderbilt Libraries 

This video is licensed with the Creative Commons license Attribution-NonCommercial.