 When conducting research, it can be difficult to identify sources that are credible and useful to your topic because information is complicated. Evaluating the sources you want to use will help you determine the credibility and usefulness. To evaluate a source, the first thing you need to do is stop and check your emotions. Does this topic or source make you feel a strong emotion such as fear, anger, happiness, or pride? Why do you think this source is making you feel that way? Taking the time to make yourself aware of your own opinions and possible biases from the start will help you more accurately evaluate the source. You also need to stop and recognize what you already know. Ask yourself, what do I already know about this source and its claim? You can use the knowledge you already have to help you investigate the source and claim. Next, you want to start investigating the source, and we've broken this process down into four areas. The who, the what, the where, and the why of your source. Each of these areas has questions you can use to help your investigation. Let's break it down piece by piece. One of the first things to look at when starting to investigate a source is the who. Who created the sources? Can you find out more about the author or authors and their credentials? You may need to go further than just the author bio within the source. Go outside the source and investigate the author's background and publications. Some other questions you may want to ask are, is the author an expert on this topic? Do they have personal experience with this topic? Are you able to detect any potential biases they might have due to their past work or who they are affiliated with? That leads to the next set of questions. What is the purpose of this source? Can you identify the thesis or main argument? What information do they cite to support their argument? Can you fact check or verify this information in another source? Another part of a good argument is addressing multiple perspectives on an issue. Is the author looking at the topic from multiple perspectives or do they seem to be ignoring other important perspectives? Often evaluating a source requires you to do additional research on the topic to better evaluate the quality of the information being presented. Next, you'll want to look at where. Where was the source published? Can you find out more information about this publication? Is it a peer-reviewed academic journal? A blog? A web news site? Think like a detective and try to google search for the journal, magazine, newspaper, or blog title. Are others talking about the source as biased or not? The last area shows that it's important to connect sources back to your own research question and purpose. Why is this source useful? Why is this information relevant? How does it enhance your argument? Finding sources for your research is kind of like putting together a puzzle where each source provides a different piece of the total picture. Does this source fill a gap in your research? Finally, circle back. Return to the evaluation process often to take the new information you've gathered and conduct a more effective investigation of the source and information moving forward. If you need help evaluating your sources, you can always ask a librarian.