On Campus Students

When doing academic research, it is important to use high quality, credible, relevant, and authoritative sources. After all, the sources you use are a direct reflection on the quality of your writing. In order to ensure you are using these types of sources, you need to evaluate everything you use.

When using websites, the evaluation process is critically important. The World Wide Web is rich with information to help you research almost any topic; however, not all of the information you find there is useful or reliable. After all, anyone can put up a website or upload a document to the internet. They don't have to be intelligent or knowledgeable, and more often than not the information does not have to be checked for accuracy or edited for content.

The best way to determine if an online source is appropriate for use in your academic work is to put it through the CRAP Test. The CRAP test prompts you to ask questions relating to the Currency, Relevance, Authority & Accuracy, and Point of View & Purpose of a website. If you can check yes for the majority of the questions, it is likely that your website is reliable.

"Don't trust everything you read on the internet." 
Abraham Lincoln

"The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock-proof, crap detector. This is the writer's radar and all great writers have had it."
Ernest  Hemingway