How Do You Know If An Online Source Is Reliable?

1. Currency: Timeliness of the information.
2. Relevance: Importance of the information for your needs.
3. Authority: Source of the information.
4. Accuracy: Truthfulness and correctness of the information.
5. Purpose: Reason the information exists.

How do you know if a source is reliable?

1. 1) Accuracy. Verify the information you already know against the information found in the source. ...
2. 2) Authority. Make sure the source is written by a trustworthy author and/or institution. ...
3. 3) Currency. ...
4. 4) Coverage.

What makes an online source unreliable?

In unreliable sources, bias and offensive language can be seen because they are usually not written for the purpose of informing. If the source only evokes emotion in the reader (such as anger) , it’s likely an unreliable source.

What are 3 commonly unreliable sources?

• Book.
• Newspapers and magazines.
• Peer reviewed journals.
• Peer reviewed articles.
• PhD or MBA dissertations and research.
• Public library.
• Scholarly articles.

What are the example of reliable source?

Scholarly, peer-reviewed articles or books -written by researchers for students and researchers. Original research, extensive bibliography. Found in GALILEO’s academic databases and Google Scholar. Anatomy of a Scholarly Article.

What sources should be avoided?

• out-of-date materials (published over 10 years ago);
• posts from social networks (i.e. facebook);
• blogs;
• research articles without citations;
• websites ending in .com, . org, . net etc.

What is a bad source?

consultant sites . online encyclopedias (eg. Wikipedia) general online dictionaries. local newspapers.

Is .org a credible source?

Look at the three letters at the end of the site’s domain name, such as “edu” (educational), “gov” (government), “org” (nonprofit), and “com” (commercial). Generally, . edu and . gov websites are credible , but beware of sites that use these suffixes in an attempt to mislead.

What is the most reliable source of information?

Academic journal articles are probably the most reliable source of current thinking in your field. To be the most reliable they need to be peer reviewed. This means that other academics have read them before publication and checked that they are making claims that are backed up by their evidence.

Is YouTube the richest source of information?

Over 70% of adults search the internet for health and healthcare related information. 6 YouTube is one of the most dominant sources of online information , with over 2 billion users generating billions of daily views.

What are 5 reliable sources of health information?

health brochures in your local hospital , doctor’s office or community health centre. telephone helplines such as NURSE-ON-CALL or Directline. your doctor or pharmacist. reliable health information websites, such as government sites, condition-specific sites, support organisation sites, and medical journals.

What is the danger of using unreliable websites?

Unreliable sources may give inaccurate information , meaning the wrong decision is made. Unreliable sources may be out of date; meaning a decision which should have been made if the information had been received on time is missed. This could result in a lost opportunity.

Why Wikipedia is a bad source?

However, citation of Wikipedia in research papers may be considered unacceptable, because Wikipedia is not a reliable source . ... This is because Wikipedia can be edited by anyone at any moment. Although when an error is recognized, it is usually fixed.

What are acceptable sources?

• Publication. The information must be published; that is, it must be fixed, transcribed, or recorded in some medium which is both persistent and which is available to be read or inspected, without restrictions on disclosure. ...
• Traceability to author(s). ...
• Authenticity. ...
• Relevance.

Why is .gov a credible source?

gov suffix), what is the purpose of the information? ... In general, print publications with authors and listed sources tend to be reliable because they provide sources which readers can verify . Likewise, Web postings with a . gov suffix (posted by the United States government) are both current and reliable.

Is a blog a credible source?

Blogs can be good information sources , but some are more credible than others. Read blogs carefully to make sure they are not trying to sell you products. ... In addition, some magazines and journals keep lists of recommended blogs that may be useful. Some blogs also link to other blogs on the same topic.