"Evaluating Sources to Find Quality Research" by PCC Library (5:27).
The library provides you with access to information. The databases contain all kinds of sources, including high-quality peer reviewed journals but also newspapers and magazines that are from particular political perspectives.
"Biased" sources may be useful to use in certain circumstances, such as presenting a differing opinion or perspective that might not be present in other sources.
Even "peer reviewed" information should be evaluated as information may change as researchers gain more knowledge.
The process of evaluating a source includes examining the source itself and examining other sources by:
The questions below will help you think critically during the source evaluation process:
Purpose: How and why the source was created.
Relevance: The value of the source for your needs.
Objectivity: The reasonableness and completeness of the information.
Verifiability: The accuracy and truthfulness of the information.
Expertise: The authority of the authors and the source.
Newness: The age of the information.
1Based on Caulfield, Mike. "Four Moves and a Habit." Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers, 2017.
P.R.O.V.E.N. Source Evaluation by librarian Ellen Carey (2018), Santa Barbara City College, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.