Identifying Credible Sources
What are credible sources
Credible sources are materials, references, or information that are deemed trustworthy, reliable, and authoritative within a particular field or context. Identifying credible sources is essential in academic and research.
Using credible sources ensure the accuracy, validity, and integrity of the information used and as students, you're expected to use credible sources for your assignments. This will prevent you from getting duped by unreliable and deceptive information over the web.
Credible sources are well-known person or organization with expertise in the field. They’re free of errors and biases and contain facts.
There are five key characteristics to consider when identifying credible sources:
Current – how recently was the information published.
Relevant – is the source relevant to your research question.
Authoritative – how reputable is the author and publication.
Accurate – is the information accurate, reliable and error free.
Purposeful – what is the purpose of the information, article or source.
How to identify credible sources
Choosing the best sources for your assignment means identifying credible sources, that are appropriate to use and can add value to your research process and analysis.
It’s important to understand what a credible source is, what isn’t, and how you can identify them.
To help identify credible sources the CRAAP test is a useful tool.
The CRAAP test is a systematic approach in which users identify the Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose of a source to determine the credibility and inform the decision making process.
Step 1 - Is the source current?
Look at the publication date to ascertain the timeliness of information.
Make a distinction between the date of creation and modification, especially when perusing online sources.
Ask questions about relevance, particularly for rapidly evolving topics.
Step 2 - Is the source relevant?
Ensure information in the source aligns with the research question, emphasizing the importance of relevance.
Evaluate the information's complexity, ensuring it matches the academic level required.
Step 3 - Is the source authoritative?
Consider the author's background, qualifications, and regularity of publications in the subject.
Use reputable publications and peer-reviewed journals as indicators of source credibility.
Enquire if there are affiliations with respected research or educational organizations.
Step 4 - Is the data accurate and reliable?
Verify the reliability, correctness, and support for facts within the content.
Evaluate the data-gathering methods, especially for primary data, understanding the methodology's appropriateness.
Avoid sources with typographical, grammatical, or spelling errors.
Step 5 - Is the purpose of the source clear?
Identify the author's purpose, discerning whether it aligns with your research needs.
Evaluate the depth of coverage and specificity, avoiding sources with a vague or entertainment-focused purpose.
Look for biases, emotions, and the overall tone, ensuring alignment with academic standards.
When to use credible sources
The sources you choose for assignments can impact the depth and credibility of your work. Understanding the distinctions among primary, secondary, and tertiary sources is paramount for effective research.
Primary Sources: provide direct access to unfiltered information from the original source. These sources, offering firsthand evidence, are often deemed the most credible.
Secondary Sources: are reliable sources due to the peer-review process. Authors of secondary sources conduct primary research, synthesize findings, and publish them in reputable outlets, ensuring credibility.
Tertiary Sources: consolidate primary and secondary sources within indexes, bibliographies, or dictionaries acting as comprehensive references.
When to Use Credible Sources: Secondary sources, derived from published materials like books and articles, are integral to desk-based research.
While primary research is the cornerstone of original information, secondary research offers a streamlined approach by presenting already compiled, organized, and analyzed data.
For assignments such as literature reviews, dissertations, or systematic reviews, secondary research will be the main sources of information to complete the work.
Benefits of using credible sources
In the early part of your academic studies, using secondary research like journals, books, and other reputable sources to learn about your subject and build your knowledge base.
There are several benefits of using secondary research. Some of these include:
Accessible – you can find secondary research quickly and easily. Secondary research has the advantage of saving you time, but it is limited to what has been published.
Reliable – secondary research has been peer-reviewed.
Range of Sources – in popular subjects there will be many sources on your topic. Understanding the types of research and outcomes that have been published on your subject of interest will help you to build your knowledge and allow you to identify opportunities for developing your own original research.
Knowledge Base –Sources that provide a solid foundation for you to develop your assignment discussion and conclusions on will mainly be secondary research sources which will you find in the university library.
If you are at the start of your research process or are working on a literature review, dissertation or systematic review then secondary research will be your focus.
Challenges of identifying credible sources
To create a balanced view, it’s a good idea to include research outcomes and views that align and oppose your thoughts on a subject. This is particularly important at university where you are expected to compare and contrast multiple sources.
However, there will be challenges you encounter when trying to narrow your search parameters and identify only the most relevant and credible sources.
Assessing Credibility - authenticating data is not always easy, evaluating sources is essential to ensure the information used is accurate.
Range of Sources – for subjects with a lot of published material it’s easy to be distracted by tangential questions.
Incompatible - if your research question is unique, compiling similar data from a secondary source may be a challenge.
Outdated - data can become obsolete quickly.
Summary
Secondary research sources are the published sources you will use to learn about your subject area and for many of your university assignments but how do you sort the really useful from the moderately relevant and not appropriate for this research question.
Understanding what types of sources are available, which are the most appropriate to use, and how to choose the best sources can help you create balanced research and analysis for the assignment you are working on.
Using your search strategy, you will identify sources that meet your search criteria and keywords. You can then use the Abstract and Executive Summary to quickly decide whether the source is worth reading.
Reading the abstract and the executive summary is an easy way to start assessing if the source is credible as it will give you an overview of the content and purpose of the whole information.
Use the CRAAP test to identify sources that has information that:
has been published recently?
is relevant to your research question?
has authority and expertise in the subject?
is accurate and trustworthy?
is transparent and clear about the intentions and scope of the research?
Whether you’re obtaining your data from a credible or peer-reviewed source or not, it’s always best to evaluate the source so you know how much weight to give to the data and opinion when you incorporate it into your research.
Otherwise, you risk using information from sources that aren’t credible, weakening your argument and your own credibility.
