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Evaluating online sources

5-minute workshop

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How do you decide if an online source is trustworthy?

  • Authorship: Who wrote this and what are their credentials?
  • Publisher: Who sponsors the document? Is this institution biased?
    • Educational website = .edu
    • Non-profit organizations and public interest groups = .org
    • Government agencies = .gov or .fed
    • Commercial sites = .com or .net
  • Point of view: What is the author’s goal?
  • Verifiability: Can you verify the information the author references? What kind of information do they cite?
  • Currency: Is the information current? See copyright/update at foot of web page.

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Would you cite this source? www.hcn.org

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Would you cite this source? www2.epa.gov

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Would you cite this source? www.propublica.org

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Would you cite this source? www.sgmeet.com