Verifiable information
All statistics and facts should be backed up by citations to the original source of information. You can use these citations to verify the information in the original source. Without citations, how can you know that the information is accurate?
Reliability
Is the information published by a source that you know and trust? Sometimes it can be difficult to tell if information is being produced by a reliable source. Reviews of that source or links to it from other trustworthy sources may provide some indication of reliability. For Internet-based information, try searching for the URL (web address) in Google and it will offer the option to retrieve results of sites that link to your resource. For print-based information, if the source was recommended to you by your professor, or you found it in the library, those recommendations may provide you with some assurance as to its reliability.
Authority
Is the author recognized as an expert on this topic? In academic research, authors who have previously published in peer-reviewed journals or who have experience are good sources of information. Try searching for the author in a search engine such as Google Scholar to find other sources that the author may have written. If you are unable to find the author for a source and you don't recognize the publication, you will probably want to use another source for your research.
Timeliness
Some topics require more current information and recently published information will be important to locate. If your topic is time-sensitive and there is no date listed, you may want to locate another source.
Point of view or bias
Some organizations or individuals create information to support an opinion or cause. On the Internet, these publishers will likely state their purpose somewhere on the site. It is important to look for this purpose to see if the content is biased towards a particular view. In print, bias is usually more subtle. There are conservative and liberal publications and their articles usually have a bias. Most major magazines are owned by a few large corporations. In these publications, information is usually from mainstream sources. The viewpoints expressed usually fall somewhere in the middle of the political and social spectrum. There are reference sources available in the library to help you determine the slant or bias of periodicals. Consult with a librarian to locate these sources.
Audience
Does the publication or content let you know who is the intended audience of the source? In print publications, the intended audience can be fairly easy to determine. In many cases, for academic-level research, you should look for publications that are written for a scholarly audience. Sources geared towards researchers and experts in the topic may provide the most reliable and verifiable information available.
If you are interested in reading more about evaluating information, consult the following:
Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply and Questions to Ask
UC Berkeley
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html
Critically Analyzing Information Sources
Cornell University
http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill26.htm
For more information, contact the Information Desk in the M.D. Anderson Library.
