All of your information sources -- books, articles, and websites -- must to be evaluated for quality. The tools listed below can help.
Websites need careful evaluation. Apply the "CRAAP" test to the information you find.
Currency – How up-to-date is the information? Is the date appropriate for your topic?
Relevance – Is the information directly about your topic? Is it too simple? Too complex? What audience is this written for?
Authority – Who is the author? What are his/her credentials? Why should you believe the author?
Accuracy – Where does the information come from? Are there references or a bibliography? Is the information consistent with unrelated sources? Does the appearance seem professional?
Purpose – Why was this information published? What audience is this written for? Is there a commercial or persuasive purpose?
What is the difference between an article in a Scholarly Journal and a Popular Magazine?
| Scholarly | Popular | |
| Format | Journals | Magazines, newspapers |
| Content | Original research and inquiry | General interest stories and opinion pieces; may discuss research studies, but do not contain original research |
| Purpose | Share research to expand knowledge base in a discipline | Share news, general information, and entertainment; for profit |
| Audience | Professors, researchers, professionals, experts, students | General public |
| Author | Experts in the field. Name, credentials, and affiliations are provided. | Journalist or professional writer, who are not experts or specialists in a field. Sometimes no author name or credentials are given. |
| Article Structure | Includes clearly labeled parts such as abstract (article summary), and references (bibliography, works cited). May also include and introduction, background, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, conclusion, notes, appendices and more. | Structure varies. May have titled subsections, but they will rarely be the same labels as a scholarly work. Do not have abstracts or reference lists. |
| Language | Scholarly or technical language; may require prior knowledge of field, issues, and jargon | Easily understood language; does not require special knowledge |
| Peer review | Usually. Articles are verified by experts in the field; emphasize accuracy, trustworthiness, and validity. | No |
| Citations | Yes. Other sources will be cited in text and will have full citations/references in footnotes or reference/works cited list at the end of the paper. | Rarely. Sources will often be referred to, but rarely have full citations. No reference/works cited list. |
| Appearance | Serious and simple; often black and white | Glossy, colorful; attractive images and design; full page ads |
| Images | Sometimes. May contain charts, diagrams, and tables; photography is rare outside of specific disciplines. | Yes. Heavily illustrated with many photos |
| Advertisements | Rarely. If so, they are small, discreet, and subject related | Yes. Profit-based publication; a significant portion is allocated to ads |
| Length | Longer. Length is variable, but usually between 10-30 pages | Shorter. A couple hundred words to a few pages |
Information in this table was created in conjunction with viewing the University of Victoria's Research Tips Central pages.
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