ENG 190: Research and Persuasion

Evaluating Sources

As you begin your research you will probably find lots of information from many types of sources. When you are in college and in most professional settings after college, you will be expected to use high quality sources of information for your work. As you gather information for your research projects, you'll find many sources in various formats such as books, articles from databases, ebooks (electronic books), interviews, videos, and more.

In order to determine which sources to use for your research, you will need to use evaluation techniques. There are a lot of different evaluation methods you can use. The subpages of this tab go over three core evaluation methods--SIFT, CRAAPO, and CCOW. All of these methods provide solid frameworks for source evaluation. While there are some overlapping content areas among these evaluation methods (such as identifying author credentials and understanding and tracing claims), some evaluation methods may work better for different source types. For example, the SIFT method (which is included below) is typically helpful when evaluating social media posts or other popular sources. 

If you would like more in-depth help evaluating sources, visit our Evaluating Sources guide.

Evaluating Sources Using the SIFT Method Video

In the short video below, you’ll learn how to evaluate web sources effectively using the SIFT Method—Stop and Reflect, Investigate the Source, Find Reliable Coverage, and Trace the Claim.

The SIFT information presented has been adapted from materials by Mike Caulfield with a CC BY 4.0  This link opens in a new window license.