Evaluating & Citing Sources

for SHAPE Health Fair

How should I evaluate sources, -particularly online ones-

to avoid misleading, inaccurate, or poor-quality information?

Share with the person next to you:

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What are some of the things you do to check a source for reliability before using it?

How do you choose a research source?

Pay attention to first impressions (they matter), but don't stop there (not enough, and super easy to manipulate).

First impressions include:

• The domain suffix (.com, .org, .gov, .edu, etc)
• Amount of information
• Font and color choices
• Image choices
• How easy the site is to navigate
• Advertisements (note: news sources, even reliable ones, will have ads)
• Spelling and grammar errors
• Whether you see citations (References) or hyperlinks

First, search smarter.

Practice "click restraint"...

• A 2017 Stanford study showed that expert fact checkers avoid clicking on the first results on a Google search page

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• The first results aren't always the most credible or helpful, because companies can pay consultants to design their website to be found more easily:

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

...and use strategies like the site operator & quotation marks to force Google to give you different results.

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Also try Google Advanced Search

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google.com/advanced_search

Then evaluate potential sources

Authority:

Who created the source (author and/or organization) and are they an expert on your topic?

Bias:

Why did they create the source (audience and purpose)?

Does that purpose interfere with giving accurate and complete information?

Currency:

When was the source created? How likely is it that this particular info. is outdated?

Read Vertically to see what info the source provides about itself...

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Talk to the folks next to you:

• What are we looking for on the page itself?
• What about on the About Us page?

Reading Vertically: Actions to take

Date

How old is this page? (Ignore copyright date)

Organization/Publisher

Who made the website? Who funds it?

Author

Is their name hyperlinked? Can you find out any info about them by Googling? (lateral reading)

References at end of page

Where did they get their data or facts?

Hyperlinks

Click on them! Often used instead of citations at end

Statistics/Graphs

Pay extra attention to numbers. Read the captions and text below charts and graphs!

First, check out the information given on the page:

Be choosy

• If a non-expert source got some of its info from good sources, follow the hyperlinks to the better sources!
• For example, see the numbers in parentheticals in this article.

Currency:

• Look for a date on the top or bottom of the page
• If no date, use Ctrl + F and look for "20"
• If still no dates, look for references to dateable things (ex: "There was an increase in depression during COVID-19…")

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How old is too old...for our health fair research?

Ask yourself:

• How frequently does information change in this field (ex: kinesiology, culinary arts, nutrition, sports)
• How frequently does information on this specific topic change? What do you think about…
• How meditation affects the brain
• Statistics on vaping
• History of yoga
• How bloodborne pathogens cause illness

How old is too old...for our health fair research?

• Ask yourself: has newer information been published or discovered?
• Balance your sources. For example:

-First source

-Second source

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Then, truncate the URL to get to the home page and visit the About Us. Look at the organization:

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• Mission/goals/scope of work
• Are they experts on the topic?
• How long have they existed?
• Any awards, etc?
• Any connections to other orgs you already trust? (ex: it's part of UCLA, it partners with the American Psychological Association, etc)
• Standards for contributing (who gets to publish articles here?)

Lateral reading:

When you Google a source to see if it's legitimate, what are you looking for?

Read laterally to see what others say about the source.

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Lateral reading involves "leaving a site after a quick scan and opening up new browser tabs in order to judge the credibility of the original site"(Wineburg and McGrew)

Even more important than reading vertically. In a 2017 Stanford study, fact checkers outperformed Stanford students and Ph.D. historians when evaluating sources because they read laterally.

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ACTIONS TO TAKE:

• Google the authors (+ their institution)
• Google the publisher/organization
• Any controversies?
• Who funds them?
• See if you can find the same event or facts on a source you already trust. If not...why not?

Citing Your Sources: Recommended Resources

• Purdue OWL MLA guide
• MLA Style Center
• irvington.org/mla
• Parenthetical citations doc
• Citing common WIP sources

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Citations:

What are some common mistakes you have seen people make in their citations?

Common mistakes checklist

• A source in the parentheticals is missing from W.C. page, or vice versa. (CAUTION! This is plagiarism!)
• Parentheticals don't match 1st thing in W.C. entry (parenthetical help doc)
• Missing quotation marks around parentheticals that are titles
• Ex: (Vaping Facts) should be ("Vaping Facts")
• Don't start the W.C. entry with the organization name
• Capitalization. Capitalize titles correctly even if source doesn't
• Missing date. If no official date, use clues & write [circa year]
• Every source should have a "Source Title" and a Container Title
• Missing publisher. Don't leave out unless exactly the same as container
• Missing period at the end of the entry

If you use citation generators like Easy Bib, watch out for these common mistakes:

• "Page/article title" Site/Container Title are mixed up or smushed together with |
• Missing publisher
• Missing date

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Can you spot all the errors?

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. "Food Keeper App | FoodSafety.gov." FoodSafety.gov, https://www.foodsafety.gov/keep-food-safe/foodkeeper-app.

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Correct website citation

"Food Keeper App." FoodSafety.gov, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 26 Apr. 2019, www.foodsafety.gov/keep-food-safe/foodkeeper-app.

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*Note: .gov should NOT be in the container name unless it's actually on the banner of the website:

Thanks!

Do you have any questions?

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