Research and Course Guides: STCM 344: Writing for Strategic Communication: Evaluating Sources

Evaluating Sources: Some Useful Tools

For many academic research projects, instructors will require that you research many different types of resources. Often it is difficult to recognize the value of a particular resource. How do you distinguish between credible and less-credible sources? Here are some tools and ideas.

CRAAP Test (Benedictine University)
CRAAP is an acronym for Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose. You can use the CRAAP Test to evaluate your sources.
Evaluating Online Sources (University of St. Thomas)
The information presented here is designed to help you determine whether an online source (i.e. website, blog, YouTube video, social media post, etc.) is credible (or not).
Evaluating Resources (UC Berkeley)
Questions and tips for evaluating sources, from the University of California, Berkeley.
Evaluating Resources (Simmons University)
Includes tips for evaluating news sources and pushing against privilege. From SImmons University.
SIFT (The Four Moves)
Specifically addresses analyzing online sources. Created by Mike Caulfield.
Evaulating Sources
Some criteria from the University of St. Thomas Libraries staff.
The Five Ws (Creighton University)
The "Five Ws" is a simple, easy-to-remember device to help you evaluate research sources. Ask yourself: Who, What, Where, When, and Why?
RADAR Framework (Loyola Marymount University)
The RADAR Framework can help you remember what kinds of questions you should be asking about an information source as you evaluate it for quality and usefulness in your research.