1. Evaluating Sources for Bias and Credibility

2. Publication Date
In general, the more recent the publication date the better. Information is constantly being updated. If the date is very close…the subject matter determines the importance of the date. August 14, 2018 versus August 16, 2018

3. Title of the Work
Watch for loaded words. Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot by Al Franken. “US Foreign Policy: The Same Old Stuff” versus "US Foreign Policy: Effective or Not?”

4. Essential Questions: Is the source objective?
Is the source presenting straight facts?
Are the source’s conclusions in line with those of most other experts in the field?

5. .com, .net, & .org
Originally, each had a unique purpose: .com: Commercial (for-profit) websites .net: Network-related domains .org: Non-profit organizations These top-level domains all offer open registration – anyone can register a .com, .net, or .org domain for a website (for a fee).

6. .edu The.edu can only go to educational sites.
Students and faculty can both have personal web sites with .edu TLDs, so be aware of whether the site is an official school web site, a research site, or a personal site.
Personal sites will often have the user’s name in the URL.

7. .gov & .mil
Information on a .gov or .mil site has the backing of the (local, state or federal) government or the military.
It may be difficult to find a single author for these sites, but you can assume that the information has a certain amount of authority because of this association.

8. Blogs
Blogging is not a very expensive endeavor (it can even be profitable), so pretty much anyone can write one. The blog may be written by a professional blogger, a person with a little spare time, a group of friends, or even a company with numerous employees contributing.

9. A source’s authority often depends on who its author is.
It’s generally best not to trust any information you find on the Internet until you can at least determine who wrote it.
Many Web sites have an “about” / “contact” / “FAQ” section.
Once you’ve found out who’s responsible for the site’s content, you need to find out whether s/he has any expertise.

10. Questions to Ask What is the author’s education level?
Does he or she have a degree? From what school? In what subject?
What is the author’s previous writing experience?
How much does the author probably know about the topic or topics on which he or she is writing?
Does he or she deal intimately with this subject in daily life or only research it for the purpose of writing about it?
If relevant, has he or she performed experiments and independent research projects on this topic?
Does the author have a neutral perspective on the site’s subject matter or is he or she trying to promote a particular viewpoint?

11. Editors
Editors often write content – and on some sites may be responsible for most of the available content – but they are also in charge of maintaining a certain standard of accuracy in a site.
The presence of an editor, and especially of a full editorial staff, implies that there is some amount of oversight.
However, the fact that a site is edited does not necessarily mean that it is neutral or correct.

12. Sponsorship
Check the top / bottom of the page for the logo of a sponsoring organization.
An “information” / “about” / FAQ page
Look at the affiliations of the author(s) and editor(s).
Investigate using Google to find out how the organization is perceived.

15. Bias
Even an author with a high level of expertise can offer misleading information.
Many web sites have an agenda – they have an interest in presenting a skewed version of reality.

16. Criteria to Use When Analyzing the Validity of an Article
Title
URL
Publication Date
Author’s Background and Expertise
Publisher / Sponsor
Type of Evidence Used (Personal Opinion vs. Facts and Data vs. Expert Testimony)
Writing Style (Checks of Spelling, Punctuation, Grammar, Syntax, etc.)