What kind of information do you need? If you are writing for a class assignment, you may be required to use peer-reviewed ("refereed") or scholarly sources. In any case, you should always look for sources that are authoritative.
Scholarly Checklist--Look for:
- Authors listed, with credentials
- Bibliography, references, or works cited and data (statistics, figures) to support conclusions
- Reviewed by peers or experts in the subject
- Published by a reputable publisher
- Purpose is to impart knowledge, not to sell, persuade, entertain
Authoritative--A source can have authority even if it isn't scholarly.
- Author and/or publisher is an expert on the subject
- Author's affiliations and contact information are available
- Publisher or sponsoring organization is reputable (e.g., for websites, look for the domain; .gov or .edu sites are more likely to contain unbiased information)
- Cites scholarly or high-quality sources in references list/bibliography
Other Criteria-- these are not definitive, but worthy of consideration:
- Do you see errors in spelling, grammar, data?
- Is the publication in turn cited by other credible works published later?
- How current is the information (no date? be suspicious)?
