Currency |
• Is the information up-to-date? • When was it published? • Are more recent sources available? |
Relevance |
• Does the information relate to your research topic? • Is the information useful for your research purpose? • Is the information in-depth enough for academic use? |
Authority |
• Is the author qualified to write about this topic? What are their qualifications and what is their expertise? • Can you find additional information about the author through Google? • Has the information been published in a source that has undergone any peer review? |
Accuracy |
• Is the information supported by evidence? • Has the author provided citations or links to research they quote? • Are there errors or inconsistences in the writing? |
Purpose |
• Is the information presented objectively, or could the author be trying to sell, entertain, inform, or persuade readers? • Who is the intended audience? • Can you detect any potential biases? (For journal articles, check to see if there are any declarations of conflicts of interest or competing interests, as well as if there is a statement of who funded the study, such as a foundation or government body.) |
In many domains, we have to trust the expertise of others to guide our decisions.
Yet not all experts hold rational beliefs, and many people who are framed as experts in media are not actually experts.
Below are some questions to ask when assessing the credibility of people who are framed as experts.
Adapted with permission of the author, from http://www.stephanguyenet.com/quickly-assessing-the-credibility-of-public-experts/