Evaluating resources checklist

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?