Research Overview Guide: Choosing and Evaluating Sources

There are many methods to help you evaluate information. Nearly all of these cover: 

Date: Is this information current and how important is that for my topic? If the source is a website, does it show you when it was written or last updated?  

Authority: Does the person sharing this information have credentials or expertise in this area? Are there perspectives or viewpoints being left out?

Note: If you are reading a news article, the journalist does not need to have subject-matter expertise in the area they are reporting on. The authority that you are analyzing in a news piece is for who is being quoted or providing information to the journalist.  

Purpose: Why was this created? Is the author trying to change your mind? Does it use language that provokes outrage or anger?  Who is likely profiting from this source and how might that be affecting the information presented?

Accuracy: Have they cited their sources? Is information being taken out of context or misrepresented? Are other sources disputing or corroborating the information?  

No evaluation tool is perfect for every instance and no checklist can solve the complexity of evaluating sources. The following are good places to start in deciding whether your sources are reliable.

To determine whether a source fits your needs, ask yourself:

• What type of source am I looking for?  
• Is this information accurate? 
• Does it help me answer my research question? 
• Whose voices are included and whose voices are missing? (For example, you may see perspectives from a scholar who studies this topic, an eyewitness, a person with lived experience, a public official, or compiled data such as statistics and polls.) 

Watch this video from the UC Berkeley Library to learn the basics of:

• Identifying scholarly, popular, and experiential sources
• Determining if a source is a good fit for your needs
• Helpful, time-saving tips