Ask yourself the following questions about each website you're considering:
Currency: Timeliness of the information
- How recent is the information?
- Can you locate a date when the page(s) were written/created/updated?
- Are the links functional?
- In regards to your topic, is it current enough?
Relevance: The importance of the information for your needs
- Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question?
- Is the information at an appropriate level (not too elementary or advanced)?
- How does it compare with other sources you have looked at?
Authority: The source of the information
- Can you determine who the author/creator is?
- Is there a way to contact them?
- What are their credentials (education, affiliation, experience, etc.)?
- Is there evidence they're experts on the subject?
- Who is the publisher or sponsor of the site?
Accuracy: The reliability, truthfulness and correctness of content
- Is it arranged logically and consistently?
- Has it been either peer reviewed or cited elsewhere?
- Can you verify any of the information in another source?
- Does the language or tone seem biased and free of emotion?
- Are there spelling, grammar or other typographical errors?
Purpose / Point of View: The reason the information exists
- Based on the writing style, who is the intended audience?
- What's the intent of the website (to persuade, to sell you something, etc.)?
- What is the domain (.edu, .org, .com, .gov etc.)? How might that influence the purpose/point of view?
- Are there ads on the website? How do they relate to the topic being covered (e.g., an ad for ammunition next to an article about firearms legislation)?
- Is the author presenting fact or opinion?
- Who might benefit from a reader believing this website?
By scoring each category on a scale from 1 to 10 (1 = worst, 10=best possible) you can give each site a grade on a 50 point scale for how high-quality it is!
45 - 50 Excellent | 40 - 44 Good | 35 - 39 Average | 30 - 34 Borderline Acceptable | Below 30 - Unacceptable
Malony, A. (2019). Media Bias Handout. https://www.oercommons.org/editor/images/18236
