Evaluating Books, Journal Articles and Websites

This guide will provide some tips for evaluating the books, articles and websites you find when researching for an assessment task.

Why use websites?

Webpage

Advantages:

  • Websites provide up-to-the minute news and information about current events, trends, and controversial topics.
  • They may also contain government publications such as reports, statistics, legislation and service information
  • You can find maps, images, videos and other types of resources.

 

Disadvantages:

  • Because anyone can publish anything on the web, website information may be inaccurate or biased.
  • Website content is sometimes outdated.
  • Only a very limited amount of scholarly information is available on the open web.

 

Use websites when you need government reports and statistics, professional practice guidelines, company information, or non-scholarly information sources, e.g. job advertisements, when they are specified in your assignment.

 

Before you use a website for your research, ask yourself questions about its:

  • authority (author/editor and publisher credentials)
  • content (accurate, relevant, up-to-date)

Check the website's authority

What type of domain does the website come from?
  • Government sites use .gov and .mil domains.
  • Educational sites usually use the .edu domain. (British universities use .ac.uk)
  • Non-profit organizations use .org and business sites use .com.
  • Generally, .gov and .edu sites are considered more trustworthy than .org and .com sites.
Does the website belong to an individual person or an organisation?
  • Personal sites are considered less reliable than sites supported by organizations.
  • Look at the very top or bottom of the web page for a name, email address, or About Us or Contact Us link to determine who created the site. It might be a person or an organisation.
  • The name between http:// and the first / usually indicates which organisation owns the server the website is housed on. For example in https://www.cqu.edu.au/student-life you can see that the Student Life page belongs to a site owned by CQUniversity.
  • Look for indications that it is a personal site:
    • Look in the URL for the names of companies that sell web space to individuals, like Wordpress.
    • Look for a tilde (~). Tildes are often used to signify a personal web site.
Are the author's credentials listed on the website?
  • If you can't find any author details on a website, try typing the author's name into a search to obtain biographical information.

Check the website's content

Is the information current and up-to-date? Does it need to be?
  • Have you been asked to find sources from a specific date range, e.g. in the last 5 years?
  • Check the bottom of the site for the copyright date to see when it was created
  • While you’re there, see if there is a Last Updated date at the bottom of the site. Websites that are not updated regularly may be abandoned, and therefore contain less reliable information.
  • Check the links the use to other pages on their site and external sources? A site with a lot of broken links is not reliable because it's evidence that it has not been regularly reviewed and updated.
Does the content answer part of your research question?
  • Does the website or page give you the information you need to answer your question?
  • If you need information about a specific country or area, is this a focus?
What is the stated or implied purpose of the website?
  • Is it designed to inform, explain, or supply facts and data? These sites may be useful if the information comes from creditable sources.
  • Is it designed to promote, sell, disclose, entice or rant? These sites are not likely to be useful unless your task is to evaluate them.
What sources did the author use?
  • Are there cited (and verifiable) references for the website's information? This is just as necessary for online resources such as websites.
  • What other sources does the website refer to, cite, or link to? Do these links work? Referencing other content that no longer exists is not a good sign.
Is there bias or a hidden agenda?
  • Is the author trying to to sell you a product or idea? Look carefully. It might be a subtle attempt.
  • Is there emotional language?
  • Did you find opposing or one-sided viewpoints?
  • Can you detect prejudice, stereotypes, deception, or manipulation?
  • What cultural points of view might be present?

Examples of website evaluations

Following are some examples of website evaluations:

Test yourself - evaluating websites

More information about evaluating resources

To find out more about evaluating books, articles and websites, you might like to work through some of the following tutorials:

Subjects: How do I..?, Research