Research Guides: Literature Review - Finding the Resources: Evaluating Sources (2024)

Evaluating your sources

Before deciding whether or not to incorporate what you have found into your literature review, you need to evaluate the resources to make sure that they contain information which is valuable and pertinent. This is especially true when the resources you retrieved are not collected by an academic library, but conveniently accessible through Internet search. Web resources needmore careful thought to ensure their quality. Thus it is always a good practice to begin your search using CityU LibraryFind and databases for more authoritative and reliable resources.

Evaluation Criteria

Accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency and coverage are the five basic criteria for evaluating information from any sources.

Questions to ask:
Accuracy
  • Is the information reliable?
  • Is the information error-free?
  • Is the information based on proven facts?
  • Can the information be verified against other reliable sources?
Authority
  • Who is the author?
  • Does he or she have the qualifications to speak/write on that topic?
  • Is the author affiliated with a reputable university or organization in this subject field?
Objectivity
  • What is the intended purpose of the information?
  • Is the information facts or opinions?
  • Is the information biased?
Currency
  • When was the information published?
  • Is the information current or out-dated?
  • Does currency matter in this topic?
Coverage
  • Does the information covered meet your information needs?
  • Does it provide basic or in depth coverage?
Research Guides: Literature Review - Finding the Resources: Evaluating Sources (2024)

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