A credible source can be identified by the following characteristics:
- Is the source in-depth?
- Is it more than a page or two? Does it have an abstract, a reference list, documented research or data?
- Who is the audience?
- Academic for an audience of college students, professors, and professionals or is it popular for a general audience?
- What is the purpose of the source ?
- To provide information, original research, entertainment, to give or sway opinion, to provide news or specific information for trade or industry?
- Who are the authors?
- Are they respected and well-known in the field? Are they easily identifiable? Have they written about other similar topics? What are their credentials? Would they be considered "experts" on the topic?
- Is the source reputable?
- Is it from a library database, a peer-reviewed scholarly journal, a reputable non-biased web site? Not a blog (personal narrative) or a wiki (editable).
- Is the source current for your topic?
- Does it fulfill at least some of your criteria or provide some relevant information that you need?
- Is there supporting documentation?
- Are there links or credit given to outside or referenced resources (these include graphs, charts, illustrations, statistics, references, or other supporting documentation)?
