Evaluate Sources - Apply the CRAAP Test
Currency: timeliness of information
- When was the information created or published?
- Has the information changed or been updated since it was published?
- Is the information current or out-of-date?
Relevance: importance of information for your needs
- How does the information help answer your question or address your topic?
- Who was the information written for? Experts, students, general audience?
- Is it an appropriate level? (too elementary or too advanced?)
- Have you compared it against other possible sources?
Authority: source of the information
- Who is the author or publisher?
- What are their credentials or qualifications?
- What are the author's institutional affiliations? (university, research institute, journalist, lobbyist)
Accuracy: reliability, accuracy, and truthfulness
- Where did this information come from?
- Is it supported by evidence?
- Has it been reviewed or refereed?
- Can you verify the information from your own knowledge or another source?
- Is the writing unbiased or neutral in tone?
Purpose: why the information exists
- What is the purpose of the information? To teach, inform, entertain, sell, persuade?
- Is the information fact? Opinion? Propaganda?
- Are the author's intentions clear?
- Is the point of view objective or impartial?
- Is the information driven by bias? Political, ideological, religious, cultural, institutional, personal?
Keep evaluation of sources in mind when researching! Some parts of the CRAAP test may be less critical when looking at scholarly information accessed from reliable sources (eg. peer reviewed articles) but info freely available online might need more critical evaluation, particularly authority, accuracy, and purpose
