ECON 472: Get Started

Relevance: the importance of the information for your needs

• Does this item support or help advance your work/argument?
• Who is the intended audience?
• Which discipline is this information from?

Authority: the source of your information

• Who is the creator or author?
• What are their credentials? Who are they affiliated with?
• Does the URL reveal anything about the author or source?

Date: the timeliness of the information

• When was the information created?
• When was the information last updated?
• Does your topic require recent information?
• Could this work be used to provide historical context or comparision?

Accuracy: the reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the content

• Does it provide logical analysis?
• Does it cite quality research and studies?
• Has this work been peer-reviewed?

How do I know if an article is peer-reviewed?

Ulrichs Web Global Serials Directory can help. Search the name of the journal in the search box. Click on the its entry and discover information about the journal including including whether it contains peer-reviewed articles. Journals that do are referred to as “refereed.”

Reason for writing. Ask the question: is this item meant to inform, educate, persuade, sell something ...?

• Why has this information been created?
• What is the purpose of the information?
• Who has funded this research? What are the aims of the funder?
• Is the information fact, opinion, propaganda?
• Is the language or tone unbiased and free from emotion?