Information Literacy Content

Explore Credibility in Library and Online Resources

In this section you will find information on how to:

• Differentiate between the types of credible sources

• Describe the different indicators of authority

• Explain the impact of bias on source credibility

Different Types of Credible Sources

There are many different ways you can classify sources as you evaluate for credibility. One way of classifying sources is identifying which sources are scholarly and which are popular. Scholarly sources have been through a rigorous peer review process in which other experts in a field have evaluated a source for reliability prior to publication. Because of this peer review editing process, scholarly sources are generally considered very reliable.

Popular sources have not been through the peer review process that scholarly sources have and they may or may not have been edited by a team of professionals. While most scholarly sources are considered reliable, not all popular sources are trustworthy. You have to do a bit more evaluation work with popular sources than with scholarly sources.

Check out the infographic to the left and the tutorial below for more information on distinguishing between scholarly and popular sources, and for guidance on how to locate these sources!

Locating Scholarly and Peer-Reviewed Library Resources

Indicators of Authority

There are a number of ways to evaluate a source for authority. Check out the infographic below for an overview of some key indicators of authority: