Types of Contents to be used:
All the contents must be published materials. Use only scholarly/peer reviewed works such as journal articles, books, reports, etc.
Credibility of the information:
All contents must come from credible sources. These are the characteristics for determining credible sources:
a. The texts are written by respected authors;
b. Generally accessed from academic databases and sources;
c. Information from the websites belonging to educational and governmental institutions (Look for websites ending with...Edu and .Gov);
d. Articles from Google Scholar are acceptable;
e. Limit to information published within last 10 years (for research where currency of information is required).
Evaluate your sources of information:
There are five criteria to consider when evaluating the credibility of information: They include: Authority; Currency; Content; Accuracy; and Bias.
Authority: Look at the authors of the text. Who is the author(s)? Are they experts in the field/the topic? Have the authors been cited by other authors in the field?
Currency: This examines when the article/book were published. Is the publication date right for your needs? Do you need current or historical information? The age of the information cited in the article/book?
Content: This look at how relevant the information is to your topic? Is the target audience appropriate? Is the article/book written in an academic or scholarly language?
Accuracy: It looks at how adequately the authors explained the research methodology used? Can you verify the accuracy in other sources? Is it peer-reviewed?
Bias: This examines if the research was sponsored by an organization? (Note: Organizations may have motives). Is the author trying to sell or push a product or service? Do other authors agree with the author's point of view?
For more information on how to evaluate the source of information, see the library research guide -- Evaluating Sources.