Critical thinking skills are necessary to evaluate sources for accuracy and bias.
Questions to ask as you evaluate a source:
- What is the purpose or motive for the source (educational, commercial, entertainment, promotional, etc.)?
- Is the source considered popular or scholarly?
- Who is the author (person, company, or organization)? Do they have a bias? Are they objective?
- Does the source provide any information that leads you to believe the author is an expert on the topic?
- Does the source only cover one aspect of an issue?
- Read the “About Us” section of a website to learn more or Google the author to see what else have they published.
- Does the information seem accurate? Can facts or statistics be verified through another source? Are there citations?
