What is it?
​Magazines, newspapers and book publishers and a lot of websites have fact checkers and editors to make sure their content is accurate and up to date, but anyone can make a website. Any source, including books,, magazines and newspapers can have out of date, biased or just plain incorrect information. So you have to be the fact checker and editor when you use sources for your research. 

Quick Steps

1. ​Relevance 
   Ask this: Does this page have information related to my research question?
   Do this: Look for one or more facts or ideas that related to your research topic. Skim and Scan, use the Ctrl + F function or the site search engine.
   
   
2. Currency
   Ask this: How up to date is the information in this source? What is an acceptable date for your topic?
   Do this: Find the copyright, publishing date, last updated or other information about when the page was published. It is usually at the bottom or below an article title.
    
3. Scope
   Ask this: Who is the audience for this page and why was it created?
   Do this: Consider the audience for the website. You can determine this by looking at the tone, vocabulary, and visual design. Also consider how in depth the topics are covered. It might be for elementary students or for professionals in the field.
   
   
4. Sources
   Ask this: Has the author of this page cited his or her sources of information? 
   Do this: Identify the sources the author has used and decide if they are high quality. Look for a works cited list, footnotes, links or in-text references.
5. Accuracy
   Ask this:  Is the information on this page free of errors?
   Do this: Compare this source with at least 2-3 other sources you have found to see if the facts agrees. Also look for spelling, grammar errors.
6. Credibility
   Ask this: Who is the author? Does the author or sponsoring organization have the appropriate credentials to write about this topic with authority?
   Do this:  Investigate how qualified the author of organization who created the sites is to write about the topic you are researching. Look at the About the Site page  (or something similar) to see if the author has a college degree, job or special training that relates to the topic. If it is an organization, determine if most of their work relates to the topic on the site.
7. Reliability
   Ask this: What is the author or organization's point of view and level of bias? 
   Do this:  Determine the purpose for the website. Websites usually have one or more purposes: to inform, entertain, persuade or sell you something. Every site has a point of view. Just make sure you know what the bias is and decide if you should include it in your resources.

Find resources (e.g. handouts, videos, tutorials) related to Evaluating sources on the Resources page. 

Evaluation Tools
7 Layers of Website Evaluation 
Information Fluency Project Evaluation Wizard 
EasyBib Website Evaluator & EasyBib Toolbar (Chrome Extension)
Investigating Fake News