Source criticism

By working with both academic and non-academic sources, students learn to analyze authorship, purpose, method, and context, as well as to identify bias and hidden agendas. We aim to strengthen students’ ability to assess the credibility and relevance of information.

Source criticism supports both academic depth and responsible use of information in a digital age where misinformation is widespread. The goal is for students to be able to argue in a nuanced manner and make well-founded choices in their information searching and research.

We aim to train students to identify authorship, purpose, credibility, bias, and quality of argumentation across different types of sources, including:

• How do you ensure a credible author?
• How do you assess an author’s credibility?
• How do you examine whether a source is objective or has a hidden agenda?
• How do you assess whether a source is relevant to your information needs?
• Is the source primary or secondary?
• Has the source been peer reviewed?
• Where does the source belong in the evidence hierarchy?
• How does the source relate to other research in the field?
• Are there illogical leaps in the argumentation or missing documentation?