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? If it’s 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? 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?  

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. But the following are great tools to help you think more about 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