We live in a time when information is all around us. Our challenge used to be that it was hard to find information. Now it is at our fingertips and our our challenge is that is it hard to know which information in reliable. For this post I am going to focus on tips for figuring out if a source is reliable. Most of the information that I share in this article is from Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab(OWL). It is a free resource that offers tips and info on a variety of subjects and because it is produced by a reputable institution we know it is reliable.
I am going to focus on assessing digital resources for their reliability and OWL offers information on Academic vs. Popular Sources, evaluating bibliographic resources, and some general tips like how to identify information as fact vs. opinion vs. propaganda.
OWL identifies nine tips for gauging how reliable a digital source is. You can find their full text here Evaluating Digital Sources. I pulled out one or two ideas for each of their tips below.
- Search Engine Optimization– When you use a search engine like Google they use an algorithm to choose which results show up first. Those results impact which sites you go to. Be careful and always be aware that the first site my only show up first because it is a company owned by the search engine or their partners.
- Domain Extensions– These are the letters that come after the “.” in .com, .org, .gov, and many more. All of the extensions except .edu and .gov can be purchased by a company. That in mind when you are searching. Sometimes companies will use .org to make their website seem more credible whereas .gov is only available to government agencies and .edu to educational institutions.
- Clickbait– People make money when you visit their site and people are more likely to visit a site when the headline is surprising, alarming, or sensationalized. If the title of the article uses those types of words, then when you navigate to the site it is filled with ads, then it is probably clickbait. They may be entertaining, but their content isn’t very reliable.
- Social Media– These are sites where most of the content is user created and then shared with others like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Those sites can be a great way to connect with friends, but their information isn’t always reliable. Look for sites and posts by well-known organizations or people. If you don’t recognize the name of the organization, that should be a red flag. It doesn’t guarantee that the info is wrong, but it does mean that you should do some more to learn about who is posting.
- Podcasts– It is easy for anyone to produce a podcast and they can be great resources. Like any other source of information podcast can be biased or the hosts may not be reliable sources of information. Before using info from a podcast in a paper cross-reference both the information and the person or organization presenting it. I use podcasts more as a starting point to help me brainstorm than as a source in themselves.
- Wikipedia– Like podcasts I typically use Wikipedia for entertainment purposes, to help me get a quick overview of a topic, or to look for more sources. Wikipedia can be edited by anyone and so the information may or may not be reliable. Many Wikipedia editors will post their sources towards the bottom of the page. That can be a great place to find additional source, but make sure to check those for reliability too!
- Online News Articles– When looking at news articles online remember that they can come from any perspective. Not every site has rigorous editorial standards or their goal may not be to present “just the facts”. Before citing websites check them for bias, see if you can find another source that offers the same information, and check things like their “About Me” page. For example, National Review is a conservative website/magazine. They tend to support positions that are inline with that political philosophy. They also say that in their FAQ.
- Online Databases– If you have access to online databases through school or your job they can be a great resource for trusted reliable information. Most of them contain peer reviewed articles from journals or books. If you receive access through an institution it is safe to trust the database, but remember the articles could be biased. Always be on the lookout for questionable information.
- Personal Websites– Be really careful when considering using personal websites. Check the authors credentials and be aware- Anyone can post anything on the internet. I recommend not using people’s personal websites as sources unless you know that person is reliable from their work being published elsewhere. For example, the sociology researcher Marshall Ganz posts all his publications on his personal site, but he is also featured on Harvard’s faculty page and lists his titles on his site.