Reliability assessment guidelines
Videos on assessing sources' reliability and using Google Scholar:
| What is the type of the source? | How to find? | Reliability rate |
|---|---|---|
| Peer-reviewed research papers, especially meta-studies, systematic literature reviews and similar are at the top of reliability hierarchy. They are followed by large scale studies with big sample sizes or having data form different countries/research institutions. Though, be careful with the study papers having a very limited sample size - try to find other research papers that confirm their findings. | Research databases: | |
| Statistics / information published by relevant and trustable (inter)national organisations (.org): WHO, United Nations, Eurostat, national research academies, NASA, The Royal Society, websites of well-known universities, etc. | ||
| Well-known encyclopedias | ||
| Modern textbooks | ||
| Governmental websites (in nations with elected, democratic governments) | ||
| Popular science books/magazines published by well-known experts in an area (cited sources are traceable) | ||
| Reputable newspapers who use fact check, other media releases of well-known experts in an area. | ... | |
|
| Who is the author (if any)? (Who is behind this information?) | How to detect? | Reliability rate |
|---|---|---|
| If a scientist / researcher | Are his/her credits (affiliation, educational degrees, publications, awards as claimed) traceable? (E.g. using GoogleScholar, or a nation database of scientists; Estonian researchers can be found at www.etis.ee) Has (s)he expertise in a given area? | |
| If a well-known expert in a given area | Are his/her credits (affiliation, educational degrees, publications, awards as claimed) traceable? | |
| If an organisation |
| Nature of the content | Indicators | Reliability rate |
|---|---|---|
| Publisher’s relationship on the topic | Balanced / neutral | |
| Publisher is sponsored by a trusted source (e.g. European Commission, etc.) | ... | |
| Clearly biased or favoring a position for a purpose | ||
| Date NB! Not all outdated sources must be unreliable - in case they are often cited means, that they have a big impact. | Recently published or revised | |
| Outdated | ||
| No date listed | ||
| Text credibility | The purpose is to inform or teach | |
| The tone is convincing, but not pushing. | ||
| The text has specific facts and details to support the ideas | ||
| The purpose is to entertain | ||
| The purpose is to persuade, the text is emotionally loaded | ||
| The purpose is to scare | ||
| The purpose is to sell something |
