readysetresearch: 5 Steps to Research!: Step 4: Evaluate Sources

Evaluate Sources - Review 7. Plagiarism

"Creating a Successful Research Project"

1. Why Evaluate?

Why Evaluate Sources?

Evaluate your sources to make sure they are of good quality for your research paper

Information is everywhere - and it can be overwhelming

Use poor quality sources and your research paper may have errors, overly-biased information, or out-of-date facts

Instructors will check your sources to see if you have made good decisions about where you found your information. Breadth and depth of resources?Different points of view? Acknowledge any controversy?

Knowing how to evaluate will help you make better decisions in other areas of your life, such as finding accurate medical information, voting on issues during election time, presenting reliable information to your coworkers in a meeting...etc.

5. Checklists for Evaluating Sources

Checklists

Try each one and then choose one you like

5Ws Checklist & Worksheet
Print out & fill in for each resource

Web Page Evaluation Checklist
Allow to download and then use one for each source.
Inside Outside ABCDE Template
Download, complete for each source to help you know what to look for. Use Fact Checking Sites to help you

STEP 4: EVALUATE SOURCES

Step 4 Evaluate Sources Overview

In this module you will learn about

Why you should evaluate your sources
Evaluating Websites with the 5 Ws
Know Your Sources
EasyBib's Examples of Credible & Non-Credible Web Sites (good and bad!)
Checklists for Evaluating Sources
Fake News & Fact Checking Sites

4. EasyBib's Examples of Credible & Non-Credible Web Sites

EasyBib Website Evaluation Guide
Take a minute to look at some examples and explanations of good and poor sources!

6. Fake News & Fact Checking Sites

Fake News & Fact Checking Sites

Site analyses/comments by By Dave Van Zandt – Editor – Media Bias Fact Check

FactCheck.org
A product of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, this site is terrific for checking up on political claims.
Media Bias / Fact Check
Find out where your "news source" is ranked: Extreme Left, Left, Left Center, Center, Right Center, Right, Extreme Right
Science Feedback
Two seperate websites, Climate Feedback, which reviews climate related claims and Health Feedback, which reviews health and medical claims. Each fact checker holds a Ph.D. and has recently published articles in top-tier peer-reviewed science journals. This is by far the best fact checker for science related claims.
Ad Fontes Media
Good illustration of ratings. They rate the news for bias and reliability using a rigorous methodology and a politically balanced team of analysts.
AllSides
A site that presents news from the right, left, and center perspectives.
AP Fact Check
Fact-checking, accountability journalism and misinformation coverage from AP journalists around the globe.
Ballotpedia
"Ballotpedia is a nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers American federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy. Ballotpedia’s stated goal is “to inform people about politics by providing accurate and objective information about politics at all levels of government.”
Gapminder
Gapminder identifies systematic misconceptions about important global trends and proportions and uses reliable data to develop easy to understand teaching materials to rid people of their misconceptions. Gapminder is an independent Swedish foundation with no political, religious, or economic affiliations.
Lead Stories
Fact checker and hoax/rumor debunker that uses the International Fact-Checking Network fact-checkers’ code of principles as a guide for all fact checking.
OpenSecrets
"Open Secrets is a nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit, run by the Center for Responsive Politics, which is the nation’s premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. Open Secrets are by far the best source for discovering how much and where candidates get their money. They also track lobbying groups and whom they are funding."
Politifact
The Pulitzer Prize-winning Politifact researches the claims of politicians and checks their accuracy. Poynter Institute.
Reuters Fact Check
"an IFCN fact checker from the UK based Reuters. Reuters Fact Checks tends to focus on social media hoaxes and claims, however they also cover political statements. Reuters sources their fact checks with credible information. "