Library Information Literacy and Research Tutorials

When we describe information or a particular source as credible (or high quality, trustworthy, or reliable), that means it is reasonable for us to believe what the source is telling us. Using credible sources helps demonstrate your own credibility as a writer and researcher, and we're not just talking about scholarly sources!

Note that credible and academic don't necessarily mean the same thing. For example, a statement made in a social media post or a fact-checked news piece could be very credible or trustworthy while a scientific study published in an academic journal - but that was later retracted - would no longer be considered credible.

Watch the following video to learn about source credibility and why it is important for your research:

Source: "Evaluating Sources for Credibility" by North Carolina State University Libraries, licensed under a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US License.

Unfortunately, there are people and organizations out there who deliberately share incorrect or even harmful and dangerous information (i.e., misinformation and disinformation).

• Misinformation is false or inaccurate information; it's getting the facts wrong. Misinformation can be spread both intentionally or unintentionally. Some less obvious forms of misinformation include biased or partisan news, pseudoscience, and conspiracy theories. Note that satire and news parodies aren't usually considered misinformation.
• Disinformation is false information that is deliberately (and often covertly) spread to mislead or deceive people or sway public opinion; it's intentionally misstating the facts.

According to the Harvard Kennedy School's Misinformation Review, some of the reasons people share misinformation or disinformation include political partisanship, inattention (they just don't notice it), lack of cognitive reflection (they don't ask questions about the accuracy or credibility of the information), or repeated exposure (in places like echo chambers, which is one of the topics of your common reading, "Escape the Echo Chamber").

So while it's not our fault if some of the information we find is wrong or inaccurate, it is our responsibility to be diligent and verify the accuracy of the information or claims we come across before resharing it or including it in research. The SIFT Method and CRAAP Test are two approaches you can use to help determine if your information is accurate and credible. 

Use the SIFT Method (Stop, Investigate the source, Find alternative coverage, and Trace claims and quotes to their original sources) during any of your online searches, or to think through any claims your family and friends share with you online.

• Stop: One of the best ways to prevent ourselves from using bad or misinformed sources is to slow down. Take a minute to review the information. How did you come across it? For example, was it fed to you in an algorithm? What is it telling you? What kind of argument is it making if any?

• Investigate the source: This is basically just going through the source to verify that it's reliable (e.g, asking, "Who wrote it? What is their perspective? How old is the source? Why do we like this particular source for our research?"). You can use the CRAAP Test in the box below to investigate or evaluate individual sources. 

• Find alternative coverage: This is one way to see if we can verify the information we are finding. Did someone else do a similar study? Is there another writer who discusses similar topics so that you can compare their points? This is research!

• Trace claims and quotes to their original sources: Is the information accurate and current? Is it taken out of context or just incomplete? What other questions come up while you are reading through it? Whenever possible, don't cite a source that is just summarizing information from another source - find the original source instead, check to see if that other source you found was accurately representing the original source's findings, and then cite the original source instead.  

You can use criteria from the CRAAP test (currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose) to help determine if a source is sufficiently credible or reliable for your needs. Just be mindful that certain criteria might be more or less important depending on your specific assignment or topic. For example, if you're researching the Civil War for a history class, older sources may still be highly relevant, but you might want to focus on sources from the last 1-2 years for fast-developing current topics like attitudes toward vaccinations or the ethics of generative AI. 

CRAAP:

• Currency: How old is this source? Is its information current or no longer accurate? Will you need to supplement this source with more current information?
• Relevance: Is this source helpful, given your specific topic or research focus? Is it a good fit for filling in the current gaps in your understanding? Does it provide the right level of detail, or is its focus too broad or narrow to be of much use? Is it aimed at a too beginner-level or too advanced an audience? (For example, the Libraries have children's books for our education majors, but they are too basic for you to use in college-level research. And some scholarly sources are going to be too dense or technical to help you understand your topic at this point.)
• Authority: Who is the author or creator of this source? What qualifications or experience suggest they would be an expert on this topic? Who reviewed, published, or otherwise supported or sponsored this source? Do a quick search on the author(s) or publisher(s) - do they have any biases or political agendas of which you should be aware?  
• Accuracy: Can you verify any of the information through other sources? Does the source cite or link out to other sources? Does it supply sufficient data or evidence to support its arguments or conclusions?  Is it selectively "cherry-picking" data in a way that doesn't tell the whole story? Has the source been fact-checked or peer-reviewed for accuracy?
• Purpose: Can you easily determine if the source was created to inform, persuade, or entertain? Does the source contain any obvious personal, cultural, institutional, political, religious, or ideological biases?

Source: Western University. "Evaluating Sources." Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 13 January 2012. 20 August 2024. 
The CRAAP Test was originally created by Sarah Blakeslee, of the Meriam Library at California State University, Chico.

Working around Bias

Our biases can make all of us susceptible to inaccurate information, claims with limited or incomplete evidence, misinformation, and disinformation. 

Bias is a tendency, inclination, or prejudice toward or against something or someone.

• Implicit or unconscious bias: Implicit bias includes attitudes and beliefs (either positive or negative) about other people, ideas, issues, or institutions that affect our opinions and behavior but occur outside of our conscious awareness and control. Everyone has implicit biases that they have developed over a lifetime; even people who try to remain impartial, like judges and journalists, are affected by these biases. However, people can work to identify harmful implicit biases and then work to change their attitudes and beliefs.
• Explicit bias: Explicit bias refers to attitudes and beliefs (either positive or negative) that we consciously or deliberately hold and express about a person or group. 

Cognitive biases are often framed as common errors in judgment or recognizable patterns of deviation from logical thought. There are several cognitive biases that you should be on the alert for, including:

• Confirmation bias: Confirmation bias is the selective collection of evidence, or our subconscious tendency to seek and interpret information or evidence in ways that affirm our existing beliefs, ideas, expectations, and assumptions. Confirmation bias is both affected by and feeds our implicit biases. It can be most entrenched around beliefs and ideas that we are strongly attached to or that provoke a strong emotional response.

Source: "Confirmation and Other Biases." Facing History and Ourselves. 

Watch the following video to learn about confirmation bias:

Source: Above the Noise. "Why Do Our Brains Love Fake News?" Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 3 May 2017. 20 August 2024.