Guidelines for evaluating websites:
Purpose
Authority
Timeliness
Scope
--Have a serious appearance. The words "Journal," "Transactions," "Proceedings," or "Quarterly," may appear in the title.
--Written for professors, students or researchers.
--Authors are experts in their field
--Uses an academic writing style.
--Articles are reviewed by a board of experts or "peer reviewed."
--Follows a format: abstract, literature review, methodology, results, and a conclusion.
--Always includes references and citations
--May include tables, graphs or illustrations to support research.
--Published by professional organization, university or commercial enterprise
--Little or no advertising.
Partially adapted from Characteristics of Scholarly Journals, Trade Journals and Popular Magazines http://library.albany.edu/usered/dr/char.html
Tips for Evaluating Resources
--Determine what type of source i.e.: book, journal, website
--Remember .gov sources are unbiased unless they are presenting a political perspective or ideology (congress.gov or whitehouse.gov)
--Sites which are for commercial or corporate entities should be regarded with suspicion
--Watch for fake news or satire sites (if you are not familiar with a website look for the "About" page or FAQs)\
--Determine who is sponsoring or creating the site. If authorship cannot be determined move on to another source.