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ENGL-1100 - Academic Writing

Evaluating Web Sources

There is no checklist to follow when evaluating sources. The concepts and questions below are simply a starting point to critically engage with the source and content to determine if it is reliable and appropriate for your use.

Click on each button to learn more about evaluating elements of a source. 

Authorship

Look for clues on the webpage such as:

  • 'About Us' or 'Home' page

Ask yourself some questions about this site:

  • Is there an author?
  • Are links provided with more information about him/her (profession/education/title)?
  • Is a sponsor/publisher clearly identified? 
  • Is there a link with more information about the sponsor/publisher? 
  • Is the author or sponsoring organization an expert? 
  • If there isn't an author or sponsor, can you find other information to determine who is responsible for the page? 

 

Audience

 

Look for clues on your webpage such as:

  • The site sponsor/publisher
  • The language level of the text
  • The title of the webpage

Answer the questions below about this website:

  • Is the website written at a level appropriate to your studies?
  • Does the title of the website accurately reflect the content?
  • Does the website avoid the overuse of jargon which only certain professions will understand?

 

Scholarship

 

To help decide if a website contains scholarly material, try looking for these clues:

  • The publisher
  • The author's affiliation with an institution, corporation, or university
  • A bibliography/references
  • The quality of the content presented

Ask yourself:

  • Is the document supported with cited references?
  • Does the page give any evidence that the author is an expert on the subject?
  • Does the author display knowledge of the subject area?
  • Does the website say the resources is peer-reviewed?

 

Bias/Objectivity

 

Some sites are produced to persuade an audience to believe or support a particular idea. Look for:

  • The use of language
  • A skew to one side or other of a debate or issue
  • Opinions presented as facts
  • Links to outside websites that support their point of view

Try to answer some questions about this website:

  • Is the page sponsored by a corporation that wants to sell you something?
  • Is the page owner an organization that is presenting its point of view on an issue?
  • Who is the author and are they trying to sway your opinion?

 

Currency

 

Examine this site for clues about its timeliness; check for:

  • Dates of items listed in bibliographies or works cited pages
  • The site's creation date (usually located at the bottom of a page)
  • Broken or outdated links to outside pages

Ask yourself:

  • Can you find the date on the site?
  • Has the page been updated recently?
  • Do the links route to current information?
  • Do the links work or are they broken?

 

Overall Quality of Information

 

Here are some things to look for:

  • Stability of information
  • Ease of use
  • Quality of text
  • Quality of graphics
  • Condition of links

Ask yourself:

  • Can you quickly find the author?
  • Has the site been updated recently?
  • Is the website clearly organized?
  • Does it download quickly?
  • Is it free from spelling or grammatical errors?
  • Are photographs clear?
  • Do the links to outside pages work?

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Unless otherwise noted, this guide is licensed under a CC BY-SA 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License).