Author
- What are the author's qualifications? (education, past writings)
- If the author is part of an organization, what is the purpose of that organization?
Publisher
- For journal articles, is the journal peer reviewed?
- Is the publisher a university, scholarly society, government agency, trade, non-profit or commercial organization?
- For information published on the Web, see Finding quality on the Internet
Purpose
- Why was the resource written? To inform? To persuade? To sell?
- Is the material objective, showing more than one side of an issue?
Audience
- Is the resource intended for scholars, professionals, members of an organization, the general public?
Content
- Is the topic covered in depth?
- Does the resource describe other research done on the topic and provide a bibliography of related resources?
- Does the resource report a new research study (primary source material), or does it describe or analyze research done by others?
Accuracy
- Can facts be verified?
- Are opinions and conclusions supported by the evidence?
Timeliness
- When was the resource published?
- Is the information still current or valid for your topic?