The internet is a wide sea of information, with sources that vary in accuracy. There is no “magic formula” that “proves” a website is reliable. Ultimately, like any printed source you find, it’s up to you to weigh the available information and decide on your own confidence level in the source. Here are a few factors to consider as you evaluate the reliability of your potential sources.
1- Website Purpose
A website’s purpose will likely influence exactly what types of information are included in its articles.
Is it made to inform you?
To persuade you?
To promote or sell something to you?
How can you identify a website’s purpose?
Not every website will have a statement that expressly identifies the purpose of the website. You will probably have to look for some clues and make some educated guesses. Unfortunately, especially when a website is attempting to persuade you or sell you something, websites may attempt to keep their agendas hidden so you will be more likely to believe they are a purely informative source and accept their point-of-view more easily. Here are a few questions you can ask when deciphering a website’s purpose:
Is the website published by an organization? Look for an “About Us” or “Mission Statement”
Is the website published by a governmental office?
Is the website from a library, museum, or educational institution?
Does the website provide sources so you can fact check the information yourself?
Is your source a blog post where the author has been gifted products to review?
Is the website selling a product? (Is a someone selling a product potentially more likely to make claims about the product’s effectiveness?)
You can always Google the site itself if you’ve never heard of it, “What is Encyclopedia Britannica?” or “What is a presidential library?”
2- Author(s) Expertise
Does the website include information about individual page authors?
Are the authors experts in the subject you are researching? (Is a fashion professor an expert about DNA crime scene analysis?)
You can always Google the author(s) to see if you can find out more information on their degrees, careers, publications, etc.
3- Source Date
Does your article include a publication date?
Does a publication date matter to your topic? For a definition of sushi vs sashimi the date may not matter. If you’re researching advancements in genetic cloning– the date of the information definitely matters!
Why did I trust this article? Tips to remember later…
One potentially annoying aspect of research is that you may examine LOTS of sources during your process, which means it can be challenging to remember why you trusted some more than others. During my research I use a very simple Google Docs template (though you can use whatever notes tool you prefer) to help remind myself of why I trusted certain sites. I’ve found that completing this template AS I DO MY RESEARCH means I don’t have to go back and do it again later!
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