You don't have to be any kind of expert to be able to figure out whether a web page can be trusted, and same goes for other information sources, such as books and articles. Our sources will help you assess the quality of your sources and whether they can be trusted. This pages concentrates on evaluating websites, but you can use the same methods to think about other sources too.
CRAAP - Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose
The CRAAP test was developed by the by the Meriam Library of the California State University (Chico), to check the reliability of sources and is widely used, partly because the acronym is so memorable.
CRAAP Test Handout - A PDF form to apply the CRAAP Test to research resources
Currency
How up-to-date is the website?
Is the information on the site importance to your requirements?
Who is providing the information?
Is the content reliable?
What is the point of the page?
The CRAAP test is very good at analyzing the content of one website, but web content is dynamic; once a site passes a CRAAP test, you're more inclined to accept new information on that site as valid, because you think that site is credible. Suppose you have a friend named Zen. In the past Zen has told you things that you know to be true. You believe Zen; they have credibility. But what if Zen tells you something that isn't true and you don't know that? Because Zen has been right in the past, you're more likely to believe them in the future.
While each of the CRAAP test's criteria have value and it's useful, the CRAAP test itself doesn't look at information in a wider context.
Rationale, Authority, Date, Accuracy, Relevance
RADAR Handout - A PDF form to apply the RADAR Framework to research resources
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Rationale |
Rationale is important because books, articles, and web pages are made to serve a purpose. Remember that no information is completely free from bias because the positionality of the authors always impacts their perceptions. The rationale may include intent to educate, entertain, or sell a product or point of view. Some sources may be frivolous or commercial in nature, providing inaccurate or false information. Other sources are more ambiguous about any potential partiality. Varied points of view can be valid as long as they are based on good reasoning and careful use of evidence. |
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Authority |
Authority is important in judging the credibility of the author's assertions. In a trial regarding DNA evidence, a jury would find a genetics specialist's testimony far more authoritative compared to testimony from a professor in English. |
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Date |
Date, or currency, is important to note because information can quickly become obsolete. Supporting your research with facts that have been superseded by new research or recent events weakens your argument. Not all assignments require the most current information; older materials can provide valuable information such as a historical overview of your topic. In some disciplines, the date of the source is less important, while in others it is very important.
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Accuracy |
Accuracy is important because errors and untruths distort a line of reasoning. When you present inaccurate information, you undermine your own credibility. |
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Relevance |
Relevance is important because you are expected to support your ideas with pertinent information. A source detailing Einstein's marriage would not be very relevant to a paper about his scientific theories.
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Adapted from:
Mandalios, J. (2013). RADAR: An approach for helping students evaluate Internet sources. Journal Of Information Science, 39, 470-478. doi:10.1177/0165551513478889
Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How
5 W's Handout - A PDF form to apply the 5 W's to research resources.
WHAT: What type of document is it?
1. In general, what is the document?
A factual piece
An opinion piece
Other (please specify)
2. In particular, what is the document? (If you don't know the definition of anything below,
please ask!)
Article (Popular, published in a magazine or newspaper)
Article (Peer-reviewed, published in a scholarly journal)
Blog Post
Book
Column
Conference Proceedings
Editorial
Letter to the Editor
Press Release
Report
Review (e.g., a book review or film review)
Website
Other (please specify)
WHO: Who created the document?
1. Who wrote this? (If there is more than one author, list only the first two authors.) Where do they work?
2. Find information about the author(s). Use Google, Wikipedia, and the author's employer's website.
Where does the author work?
What has the author published before?
3. Does the author have a master's degree, Ph.D., or other qualifications (such as work experience) that contribute to his/her authority?
Yes, the author has qualifications that make her/him an authority.
No, the author's credentials do not make her/him an authority.
I am uncertain about the author's qualifications.
4. LIST the URLs of the websites you visited to investigate the author. Also, GIVE EXAMPLES of what you found on each site that helped you determine the author's credentials, or that left you uncertain about his/her authority.
WHY: Why was the document published?
1. Why do you think the author wrote this document? (What was his/her MAIN PURPOSE for writing?)
To convince readers of something
To entertain readers
To inform readers
To sell something to readers
To criticize another author's work
There is another purpose (please specify)
2. Give examples (quotes) from the text that helped you determine the author's purpose.
3. What type of language does the author use?
Formal: The author uses technical language or discipline-specific jargon
Conversational: The author uses colloquial, everyday language or a narrative style
4. What is the author's point of view?
Objective, neutral perspective
Interested, opinionated, favoring one side
WHEN: When was the document published?
1. When was the document published?
2. The document discusses something that happened -- maybe events or the findings of a new research study. When did the events or research occur? (If the document reports on multiple events, list just a few of the most important.)
3. What was happening in the world at the time this was published that might explain why the author wrote what they did, when they did?
WHERE: Where did this information come from?
1. What is the name of the organization that published this document? (Name the newspaper, magazine, journal, website, etc.)
2. What type of publication is it? (This question does not refer to the document, but to where the document was published.) The document was published in a...
Blog
Academic/Scholarly Journal
Magazine
Newspaper
Website
Other (please specify)
3. Has the publication/publishing organization won any significant awards or other distinctions?
YES. List awards or distinctions here:
NO. List sites/URLs you visited to check for awards:
4. Where can you contact the author and/or publishing organization if you have questions or want more information? (Check all that apply.)
The author has an email and/or mailing address listed.
The publishing organization has an email and/or mailing address listed.
No contact information for either the author or the publisher is provided.
5. This publication (newspaper, journal, website, etc.) is primarily intended for what kind of audience/reader?
Scholars and peers in a particular academic discipline (i.e., a psychologist writing about an experiment to inform other psychologists
about the results)
An educated audience interested in a particular professional trade (i.e., a marketing professional addressing others in the marketing field
about a new software program)
The general public
6. If your publication is available online, what is the domain of the publication's Website?
.com OR .org OR .net
.edu OR .gov
N/A (Not Applicable: The publication does not have a website.)
HOW: How was the information gathered and presented?
1. How did the author use his/her information?
References are cited throughout the document in a scholarly style. (There are footnotes, endnotes, or in-text citations and a bibliography.)
References are cited throughout the document in a popular style. (There are in-text quotes and attributions, but there is no bibliography at the end of the document.)
References are not listed.
2. How did the author reach his/her conclusions? (Check all that apply.)
Interviewed a group of people who are very different from one another
Interviewed a group of people who are very similar to one another
Gathered data from an academic research study he/she conducted
Gathered data from a variety of news sources
Found multiple academic research studies that support his/her study
Other (please specify)
3. Which of the following elements does the document contain?
Abstract (Look up the definition of "abstract" first and provide it here.)
Advertisements
Eye-catching fonts
Graphics (designs, cartoons, and illustrations not conveying data)
Graphs, charts, tables, and/or maps
Methods section (Look up the definition of "methodology" first and provide it here.)
Bibliography (list of references) at the end
Overall, what is your impression of the document?
1. Is the document scholarly or popular?
Scholarly
Popular
2. Explain why you think it is either scholarly or popular.
Takeaways
1. Considering the 5 Ws, what are the document's strengths? Explain.
2. Considering the 5 Ws, what are the document's weaknesses? Explain.
3. Thinking about the 5 Ws of your source, would you cite this source in a research paper? Why or why not? Might your answer depend on the type of paper you're writing? How so?
SIFT - Stop, Investigate, Find, Trace
SIFT (The Four Moves) is a method of evaluating information sources that looks at the context of the information and has the advantage of being a four letter acronym rather than a five letter acronym; one less step!
Relate SIFTing to your friend Zen and what they are telling you. Instead of believing Zen because they have been correct in the past, you go and check if what they are saying now is true.
Stop
If you have a strong reaction to the information you see then slow down before you share or use that information. We tend to react quickly and with little thought to things that evoke strong feelings. By stopping, you give your brain time to process your initial response and you will be able to analyse the information more critically
When you find a source that might be useful, the first thing to do is STOP! Before you continue, there are two things to consider:
If you don’t know anything about the source, use the rest of this process to get a sense of what you’re looking at. Don’t use anything from the site until you know more
You don’t have to do any kind of in-depth investigation of a site before you decide to engage with it..Use a search engine or Wikipedia (or both) to find out more about the information source. If you use Wikipedia, look at the references at the bottom of the page - they might be useful.
Sometimes you don’t care about the particular source that you find; you care about the claim the article is making. You want to know if it is true or false. You want to know if it represents an agreed viewpoint, or do other sources disagree with the claim. Your best strategy may be to ignore the source that you found, and look for other information sources on the same topic. Do they say the same - or similar things - to the source that you found, or do they say something totally different?
A lot of sources might provide information stripped of context, or with omissions. Consider an advert for a film that includes the line
".. a good night out..." (New York Times)
What if the actual quote in the New Your Times was:
"You won't have a good night out if you go see this film!"?
The quote is accurate, but it has been stripped of its context by omitting what comes before and after it.
Does your information source provide references? Look at the references: do they really agree with the information source? What kind of sites are being referenced? Suppose your source is making a claim about a new medical treatment and cites a research paper. You should look at the research paper (if you can) to see if it agrees with the source.
Takeaways
SIFTing does more than the CRAAP test, because you're comparing the information on one site with that of other sites.
What would a fact checker do?
Newspaper, magazines, publishers and others employ fact checkers to check the truthfulness of information. The SIFT process uses some of the same techniques as fact checkers.
When you first come to a web source, do a quick first assessment, much like a fact-checker does. Fact-checkers don't spend too much time on a website; instead they quickly leave that site to see what others have said about the site.
If you hit a dead end, think about what other search terms or strategies might lead you to the information that you need?
(Partially adapted from “Four Moves,” in Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers, Mike Caulfield, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License)