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Information comes in a variety of formats, such as journal articles, books, and websites.
As you begin conducting research, it becomes necessary to evaluate the information you find.
A basic strategy for evaluating information is to look at an information source's authority, accuracy, and timeliness.
Once you identify a source that you think might be helpful,
try to locate the credentials of the author or organization who is responsible for the information.
Authors should have an educational background or professional experience in the subject area.
Legitimate organizations will have contact information listed, usually on an "About Us" page.
If you cannot locate this information, you may want to avoid using the information source.
There can be negative consequences for using inaccurate information in your assignments.
Therefore, it is important that claims or statements in websites, articles, and other materials be supported.
An easy way to determine reliability is to look for citations or a bibliography.
Other signs that an information source might not be reliable include:
misspelled words, grammatical errors, links that no longer work, or poor website design or presentation in general.
Different fields of study have different criteria for how current information should be when you use it in research.
For example, many of the sciences prefer the use of recent research studies,
since information in this field often becomes outdated once new discoveries are made.
In History, however, it is expected to use more dated materials for historical research.
A good rule of thumb is typically to use information dated ten years old or newer.
Also consider asking your professor about the time range before conducting research.
To find the date of a source, look for a copyright or revision date for the information.
Where you find this information varies from source to source.
If you cannot find any type of copyright information, you may want to search for similar
information on a different website or in a library database.
These are general guidelines to get you started evaluating information.
There are many other factors to consider and special rules for different sources.
If you need help evaluating information, you can always Ask a Librarian.