A good strategy to use to determine if a source is credible is to ask yourself the five "W" questions about it. Your answers to the questions will help you create an evaluation of the source, which will help you decide if it is credible. The table lists below the five types of questions you should ask and answers that are good indications that the source is credible.
Remember that just because a source is credible does not mean it is appropriate for your assignment. An article from the New York Times may be credible, but inappropriate for an assignment that requires you to use scholarly sources (click here for more on scholarly sources). Make sure you are using sources that are both credible and appropriate for your assignment.
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WHO
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WHO Important because:
Good signs:
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WHAT
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WHAT Important because:
Good signs:
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WHEN
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WHEN Important because:
Good sign:
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WHERE
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WHERE Important because:
Good signs:
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WHY
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WHY Important because:
Good signs:
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Based on Kathy Schrock’s 5 Ws of Website Evaluation
What types of sources are considered primary and secondary depends on the subject you are working in. The charts below list types of sources that are often used as primary and secondary sources, and the areas of study in which the sources are likely to be used that way.
A general definition of a primary source is one that you use to learn some kind of original information. In the case of the sciences and social sciences, this could be a research article written by the person who performed the research. In the case of history, this could be a diary entry about the writer's experience of a historical event. In the case of the arts, this could be an original piece of creative work, like a painting or novel.
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Reports of original research or experiments conducted by experts in the area of study.
The raw material underlying the reports.
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Used as primary sources for:
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Original works of art, music, or writing.
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Used as primary sources for:
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Philosophical or religious texts
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Used as primary sources for:
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Sources describing the events during which they were created.
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Used as primary sources for:
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A general definition of a secondary source is that it is a source you use to gain analysis, insight, or interpretation of something. In the sciences and social sciences, that is usually a topic, while in history it is usually historical events or individuals, and in the arts it is usually a creative work. Secondary sources base their arguments and theories on primary sources, and they always follow the work, event, or time period they discuss.
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Sources analyzing, interpreting, or synthesizing information from research studies.
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Used as secondary sources for:
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Criticism of an original creative work.
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Used as secondary sources for:
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Interpretation of a philosophical or religious text.
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Used as secondary sources for:
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Study of a historical event, trend, or phenomenon.
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Used as secondary sources for:
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In most cases, your instructors will require you to use at least some scholarly sources in your assignments. The reason for this is that in the academic world, scholarly sources are considered the standard type of source to use because they are written by experts in the subject area, are based on actual research, and undergo an extensive review process (more on all of that below).
Sometimes it can be difficult to tell the difference between a scholarly source and other types of sources. Use the below chart to help you decide if a source is scholarly.
| Characteristic | If a Source Is Scholarly: | If a Source is Not Scholarly: |
| Author |
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| Publisher |
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| Editorial Process |
Note: Sources do not usually directly say whether they are peer reviewed. You may have to do some digging--for example, by reading about a journal on the journal's website--to determine whether a source is peer reviewed. |
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| Purpose |
Note: Sources may not state explicitly what their purpose is. You may have to critically read a source's introduction or examine the language and tone it uses in order to infer its purpose. |
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| Citations |
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| Audience |
Note: Sources do not usually directly say what their audience is. You may have to infer who the audience is based on the type of language and tone the source uses. |
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Most of the time when you're reading something, like a magazine article or novel, you start at the beginning and read it straight through to the end. However, that's not the best approach to take with a scholarly article. You'll have an easier time reading a scholarly article, and you'll understand more of it, if you take a strategic approach to reading it.
To learn more about how to read a scholarly article and about the parts of a scholarly article, watch the video and look through the interactive tutorial below.
If your instructor does not provide source number guidelines in the instructions for an assignment, you can ask them how many sources they expect you to use.
A rough guideline you can also use is that you should have about as many sources as there are pages in your paper. For example, for a six page paper you should expect to use about six sources. Fewer than that, and you may not have enough to write about; more than that, and your paper may just be a summary of the sources, with no room for your own ideas.