Is this a good article? A question all of us should ask each time we come across information, but one we don't always spend the time to answer well. Evaluating source quality takes some time, but with practice you'll get faster and more efficient at it. Evaluating a source is important to make sure the information is accurate, relevant, timely, and balanced. It isn't as simple as asking if it's good. There isn't even a checklist. But there are criteria and with a bit of critical thinking, you can better identify 'good' sources.
Let's start with the most difficult to evaluate type of source: websites. This video will walk you through two different websites and the evaluation criteria. How we answer or satisfy each criteria might differ for each source.
Use the Evaluation Worksheet, available as a Word Doc below, to evaluate one of the sources you found in your database searching. Remember, you might need to look back at the database results page for some guidance, but you should be able to find answers to many of these criteria from the article itself.
Where you find the information for scholarly articles is different than one a website, especially if you find it in a library database. The following images will show you where you can start to find some of the information you need to evaluate the quality of your sources.
