ENG 111

As a college student, you are expected to use credible sources in your assignments and writing.  A credible source is one that is 

(1) written to inform (as opposed to written to persuade or entertain), 

(2) written by someone who is an expert in their field and, 

(3) free of errors and bias. 

Sometimes it’s hard to know if information is credible or not. As you get farther into your academic career, you’ll get better at determining what sources are credible. You should always feel free to ask your instructor or a librarian if you’re not sure. 

There are no hard and fast rules, but here are some clues you can look for to determine a source’s credibility:

• Anything you find in a library database is most likely credible.

• .edu and .gov websites are generally credible, but .com and .org websites should be used with caution.

• Credible sources use correct spelling and grammar, and are formatted in a way that looks professional.

• Credible sources often cite the sources they rely on for their information, either in the text or in a group at the end. On a website, this may be links to other websites.

• Major newspapers are credible, but most other news sources, websites, and magazines that we use in daily life are not credible sources.

• Authors have varying degrees of credibility based on:
  • Education. A person with a PhD in a subject has more credibility than a person with a high school diploma.
  • Experience. A person who has worked as a carpenter for 30 years has more credibility than a person who has just read and watched videos about carpentry.
  • Recognition. A person who has won many awards and published many works on a topic is more credible than a person who has not.
  • Institutional Authority. A person who works at or is affiliated with Johns Hopkins, Harvard, NASA, or MIT has more credibility than a person with few or no ties to reputable institutions.

• Based on informational needs, the level of authority should be comparable.

For example, if you need to know how to put air in a bike tire, you don't need as high a level of authority as Lance Armstrong to show you how. One of your neighborhood friends would suffice. But, if you need an expert cyclist's analysis of the various stages of the Tour de France, then you should consult a source, like Lance Armstrong, with more authority on the subject than your neighborhood friend. 

• If needed, investigate the level of credibility of an author to determine if it suffices based on your informational needs.
  • Note the author &/or institution associated with the source in question and utilize a quick Wikipedia search if unfamiliar with either. 

• Popular articles are not necessarily written, nor edited by experts in the field of study being discussed, and are typically found in potentially agenda-driven magazine publications.
• Scholarly articles are written by experts in a particular field of study, and published in scholarly journals. However, these articles are not necessarily peer-reviewed. 
• Peer-reviewed articles are written by experts in a particular field of study, have been examined by other experts in that same field of study, and are published in scholarly journals.