Credibility+of+Electronic+Sources

Determining whether a source is credible is subjective, but here are a few things to look for and consider:

 * 1) ===  · **Can you tell who wrote the site?** ===
 * 2) ===  · Does the author seem to have any expertise in the area you are researching? The Stanford Cancer Center is likely to be a more credible source than Aunt Mary's Kancer Page. ===
 * 3) ===  · **Has the website been reviewed by experts?** Does it bear a seal of approval or adhere to content standards? For example, health sites that want to boost their credibility adhere to standards set by the Health on the Net Foundation. ===
 * 4) ===  · **Can you tell when the page you are looking at was written?** Something written recently is generally more credible than something that hasn't been updated in years. ===
 * 5) ===  · **Does the page cite other credible sources you can check?** (There's that point about citations adding credibility again!) ===
 * 6) ===  · **Is the site selling something based on the information it’s providing?** If so, be wary. ===
 * 7) ===  · **Do other credible sites link to the site?** You can find out who links to a site by doing a specialized search on Google. Enter link:URL into the search box. For example, you could enter link:http://www.genetichealth.com (a website I helped launch) and learn that sites that link to it include a Japanese genome center, the Lance Armstrong Foundation, and a variety of hospitals. ===
 * 8) ===  · **Are there a lot of [|typos]?** If there are a lot of [|language mistakes], it can mean that there are a lot of factual mistakes, too. ===
 * 9) ===  · Finally, use common sense and evaluate the arguments yourself. It's up to you to determine whether a site's conclusions are actually supported by its statements. ===

Source: === Fogarty, Mignon. “Citing Podcasts and Websites.” __Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing__. 11 Apr. 2008. __Quick and Dirty Tips Website__. 11 May 2011  ===