Whenever you interact with another person, you judge if that person is reliable, credible, trustworthy, knowledgeable. If someone recommends a restaurant, you ask yourself, "Can I trust this person's taste?" If a stranger gives you directions, you ask, "Can I trust this person's information?" If you order a Lyft, you ask, "Can I trust this person to drive me safely?" Judgements such as these are instinctual when you're face-to-face with someone, but these instincts don't work so well when reading something online, when you lack both the verbal and non-verbal cues that tell you a person is lying, or is uninformed, or is trying to trick you.
When reading, watching, or listening to something, you should always be on the lookout for unreliable information. One way to do this is to use the CRAAP Test, an acronym that stands for:
Currency Relevance Authority Accuracy Purpose
By using the advice outlined below, you can increase the quality of the sources you use, and eventually write better papers.
Sometimes older sources of information are reliable, especially in history and religious studies where new information may not be fundamentally changing the subject, such as happens in medicine and law. A book from 1990 on an historical figure may still be current, while a 1990 book on tax law is woefully outdated. When searching for journal articles, seven years is a common rule of thumb for currency (depending on subject). When researching current events, currency may be a matter of days. Also, check for edits and updates on websites, which show that someone is maintaining the source. Lastly, scan for anything that stands out as a sign a source is outdated, such as a book on online marketing that mentions defunct social media platforms, that fails to mention essential social media platforms, or that fails to mention social media entirely.
Ask these questions to decide if a source is current:
When was this posted or published?
When was this source last edited or updated?
Do links to other sources lead to functional web pages?
Does anything stand out as outdated?
In an academic environment, you don't have to worry too much about a source being over your instructor's head, but be sure your source is academic enough. While you may quickly find what seems to be a relevant source, don't forget to look for other sources. This helps ensure that your source is relevant (by comparing it to other sources) and to ensure that you aren't picking this source simply because it reinforces what you already believe. Remember: it's not about find any sources - it's about finding the best sources.
Ask these questions to decide if a source is relevant:
Is it useful to my topic?
Is it intended for my audience's age / educational level / demographics?
Is it appropriate for a college-level assignment?
Am I choosing this source simply because it confirms something I already think?
Always do a quick search of the author, publisher, and sponsor. A journal or website may have a trustworthy, boring name, but actually be the product of a think tank (a research institute funded to promote a specific worldview, regardless of contradictory information). Similarly, an authoritative person may be funded to promote a worldview while presenting this worldview as balanced. News organizations often present someone as a "[insert news organization] contributor" when that person is actually more a lobbyist than an academic. Also, learn to look for advertisements / sponsored content masquerading as news. Lastly, look at a source's URL domain suffix: .edu and .gov sources are generally more trustworthy than .org and .com. In short: research your researchers!
Ask these questions to decide if a source is authoritative:
Who are the people and organizations responsible for this source?
Are they qualified to speak on my topic?
Do they have a digital footprint that includes updated credentials, affiliations, and contact info?
What kind of URL domain suffix does this source have?
Checking the accuracy of a source has to do with taking a deeper look at the information presented by your source. You can check Currency, Relevance, and Authority without ever reading your source, but Accuracy is something you check as you read through it. Look to see that an author's claims are supported by evidence (in the same way your instructors check for this in your papers). You should see citations, footnotes, endnotes, references, or works cited. You should also scan those citations to be sure they are coming from authoritative sources (mostly academic and governmental sources rather than self-published sources like blogs and social media sites). Accurate sources will be based on facts and data rather than emotions and personal experiences. Finally, accurate sources rarely have spelling or grammatical errors.
Ask these questions to decide if a source is accurate:
Are claims based on evidence?
Has it been professionally edited or peer reviewed?
Are there spelling or grammatical errors?
Can you verify other works the author cites?
As you progress in your college career, you'll encounter various types of writing assignments. You're probably most familiar with descriptive essays (explaining a topic) and persuasive essays (picking a position and trying to convince someone your position is correct). You'll probably write more analytical essays (responding to a work with a critical lens) and research papers (in depth works that are the foundations of most academic sources). As you read a source, identify if the author's work is descriptive, persuasive, analytical, etc.; identify if the author is looking to entertain or to educate; identify if the author seems to have a bias or objective that is clouding a more informative and truthful view.
Ask these questions to identify an author's purpose:
Are arguments based on facts or on opinions?
Is the author looking to educate or to entertain, persuade, or sell you something?
Did the author write this on behalf of a larger entity, which may not have sincere purposes?
Does the author disregard conflicting information without exploring its merits?