EM SC 240N
Energy and Sustainability in Contemporary Culture

Critiquing Information Sources

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Learning Objectives Self-Check

Read through the following statements/questions. You should be able to answer all of these after reading through the content on this page. I suggest writing or typing out your answers, but if nothing else, say them out loud to yourself.

As I'm sure you know, there is no shortage of information sources available to us, especially those of us with an Internet connection. We live in a unique moment in human history - never before has it been so easy for so many to access so much information so quickly. But having so much available can make it difficult to determine whether or not information sources can be trusted. Engaging in critical thinking requires (among other things) knowing credible sources of information. This is an imperfect science, but there are many ways to evaluate sources. Harvard University provides a good, straightforward guide to doing this.

Suggested Reading

  • "Harvard Guide to Using Sources." Read through the "Questions to Ask About All Sources," "Evaluating Journal Articles," and "Evaluating Web Sources." You are welcome to read the rest of the website - there is a lot of good, relevant information there. I summarize the key points below.

I will ask you to analyze the reliability of information sources throughout the semester, so please take the time to read this thoroughly. Here are some general and additional tips:

  • Always check sources! This can't be stressed enough. Any information critique that does not include this is incomplete. As indicated in a previous lesson, peer-reviewed journals are generally the most reliable information sources, but there are many reliable sources that are not peer-reveiwed. (Note that often, non-peer reviewed articles use data from peer-reviewed sources.) Consider the expertise of the author and the organization they are providing content for, especially if no outside sources are used. Keep in mind that reliable outside information can be misconstrued, purposefully or not, so it is a best practice to refer to the original soruce of information if possible.
  • Always consider the author's credentials. All else being equal, someone who has spent many years analyzing a subject or has advanced training is more likely to be reliable than someone with thin credentials.
  • Consider the objectivity of the language used. Does the author use language that is clearly designed to sway you one way or the other? Is it designed to elicit an emotional reaction? Or do they use objective, analytical, academica language?
  • Be careful when using a source that is expressly opinion-based, e.g., in the Opinion pages of the newspaper (hard copy or online). An opinion is not necessarily wrong - there are certainly such things as "well-informed" opinions - but you should not use this as an academic reference. Opinions from people you trust are a great way to learn things, but you should not use them as unvarnished truth. Always seek to corroborate the information provided.
  • As indicated by the Harvard articles, I strongly suggest corroborating factual information presented in the article elsewhere (in general, not just for opinions).
  • Currency is important for some sources (especially for things like technology), but for others, it is less important (e.g., historical events, foundational theories). Use your best judgment.
  • If you don't know already, do some research about the author of the article. Use Google to your advantage!  You can search "<author or organization's name> bias" or "is <name> biased," etc. I strongly suggest searching for other articles/websites published by the author/organization. Oftentimes, you can click on the author's name on the website and it will link you to other articles written by them. Scan through them and see if a consistent bias (or at least worldview) is presented. It will often become obvious if someone holds a certain political/social viewpoint. There are some sites that provide bias charts and evaluations, such as the Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart and All Sides Media.
  • The same advice as the previous point goes for the site owner - look through articles published on the website, and try to figure out if a one-sided viewpoint is presented. All that said, keep in mind that just because someone holds a certain worldview does not mean that the information is unusable (complicated, I know!). There are many reliable information sources (people and organizations) that hold a certain worldview. You should consider the other aspects of the information, particularly the objectivity. Also, keep a look out for consistently extreme viewpoints.
  • Do NOT take a website's self-description as proof of its objectivity. I wish it were that easy!  Even the most biased of sources want you to believe that they are unbiased.
  • Just because a website is a ".org" and not a ".com" does not mean it is unbiased. In fact, the type of organization is pretty meaningless. There are a lot of biased non-profits out there.

Overall, understanding the reliability of sources gets easier with time. The keys are a) to keep reading and paying attention to other information sources, b) to constantly investigate the reliability of sources, and most importantly c) learn as much as you can! The more you do this, the more you will develop a "bias detector," so to speak.

This can be complicated, so here are a few scenarios that might help you as you evaluate sources throughout the course. This is not comprehensive, but provides some common scenarios you may encounter.

Scenarios to help you evaluate sources
Information source details Evaluation
The information is pulled directly from a peer-reviewed journal.

It's a good idea to google the journal to see if it's reputable or not, and you should google the author(s) as well. This is the best source of information you can use.

The information is NOT an opinion and is from a known reputable source (e.g., NPR, New York Times, Wall Street Journal). Note that the source is reliable (make sure you know this for a fact), but suggested to look to verify the information elsewhere to be certain.
An article provides a summary of peer-reviewed research, but you are not familiar with the source and/or author.
  • Verify the information by searching other reputable sources. Even better, find the original research and read through it
  • Research the author's credentials. Are they an expert in the field? Are they a veteran reporter?
  • Read through the article to see if there is any emotional/sensational/opinionated/partisan/etc., language. Does the author dispassionately summarize the information, or do they insert unsubstantiated opinion in there? Do they clearly display a bias (e.g., insult a political party)? 
  • Look through other articles on the website. Do most/all of the articles exhibit a bias, e.g., do they clearly lean one political direction?
An article seems reliable, but you are not familiar with the source and/or author.

Follow all of the steps listed in the box above. 

The website is a non-profit (.org). As stated above, this is basically meaningless! There are many objective non-profits, but many biased ones. Perform the research indicated above.
The information comes from an academic institution.
  • Research the author. Are they a professor? What is their expertise? Find their CV and profile. (It should be available on the institution's website.) If they are an expert in the field, then it is probably reliable, but you should seek to verify the information elsewhere.
  • Is it from a student website/project/paper? Check their sources, and verify the information elsewhere. You would not use a student project as an academic reference, but that does not mean the information is not correct.
You click on the "about" link on the organization's website, and they state that: "<name of organization> provides research-based, unbiased information about..."
  • NEVER take an organization's word for it! A biased information source will almost always try to convince you that they are unbiased. Research the articles, author, language used, verify the information, etc. 
  • The "about us" description can offer some tips on bias, though! For example, if you see words such as "economic liberty" or "free-market principles," it's likely a right-leaning site. If you see words like "progressive principles" then it's likely a left-leaning site. If they represent an industry (e.g., oil, wind, automobile, etc.), they will often state that in their description.
The information seems reliable, but is on a site that has a known bias (e.g. Fox News or MSNBC) or is from an advocacy organization or company that might seek to promote their own interest.
  • The information may actually be reliable! Just because a source has a bias does not mean that all information is biased.
  • Your best bet here is to verify the information using another source that is more reputable. If that is the case, it is usually best to use the more reliable source. It is fine to use known biased sources as initial sources, but you should always verify the information elsewhere.
  • There are some exceptions to this, particularly if the reporter is reliable and unbiased. Chris Wallace at Fox News is a veteran, respected reporter, for example.
The information is from a government website.
  • Generally speaking, your department- and agency-level information can be considered reliable (e.g., Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, Census Bureau, Department of Labor). You should seek to verify information elsewhere, though, as federal information has become increasingly politicized with the Trump Administration.
  • Information from the White House itself and Congress should not be seen as unbiased, regardless of political party, with the exception of official policy documents (e.g., full text of bills/laws/policies). It is very likely to be politically biased. Confirm the information elsewhere.
  • Federal data and statistics are generally considered extremely reliable.
The information is on Wikipedia. NEVER cite Wikipedia! It is absolutely fine to use it as an initial source, but ALWAYS use another, reputable source to verify the information. Wikipedia does a good job of citing their sources, so click on the citation/footnote link to find the original source, and proceed from there. I love looking up things on Wikipedia as much as the next person, but I never assume that it is accurate unless I can verify it elsewhere.

Final Thought

Please know that you are not expected to memorize all of this! I will try to be as clear as possible when I ask you how to analyze a source. But moving forward you should always at least investigate the following when analyzing a specific information source:

  1. If it is an article from a peer-reviewed journal, mention that specifically. Then at least look at the credentials of the author(s) and make sure they provide citations for information that they use.

For any other article, evaluate the following:

  1. Author's credentials (e.g. Do they appear to be an authority on the subject? Is their expertise relevant?)

  2. Objectivity of the way the information is presented in the article (e.g. is it matter-of-fact/objective or does it use sensational/emotional language?)

  3. Objectivity of the site the information is on (Investigate other articles on the website to see if their appears to be an agenda.) For example, is the article on Fox News? New York Times? Etc. Does that site have an agenda?

  4. Reliability of original source material (Does the author use reliable sources? Can you find other reliable sources that have the same information? Do they cite all sources?)

Keep in mind that this is as much an art as a science! Use your best judgment based on the factors above to evaluate the source. Remember that a source can be totally reliable, totally unreliable, or all points between.

Optional (But Strongly Suggested)

Now that you have completed the content, I suggest going through the Learning Objectives Self-Check list at the top of the page.