By choosing the right source for your assignment you ensure that you are searching in the right place for relevant, reliable information that meets your instructor's expectations and fulfills your assignment requirements.
Some thoughts to consider are:
Is the source appropriate for college-level work?
Is the author an expert? A practitioner? Or just someone with a lot of opinions?
Is the source relevant to my research focus?
Does the source give me enough information to inform me?
Is the source biased?
Not every source you find is trustworthy or useful. Before incorporating a source into your work, it’s essential to pause and evaluate it carefully. There are many evaluation methods—ABCs, the SIFT method, the 5 Ws, CARS, and the CRAAP Test. All serve the same purpose: guiding you through the process of deciding whether a source is reliable. Choose one you can remember, and apply it consistently to every potential source.
The CRAAP Test offers a simple checklist for making that decision:
Currency – Is the information up to date for your topic? Some fields (like medicine or technology) demand recent sources, while others (like history) may rely on older ones.
Relevance – Does the source support points in your outline? Does it add new information or simply repeat what you already have?
Authority – Who created the source, and what makes them credible? Look at the author’s background, education, or professional experience.
Accuracy – Is the information evidence-based? Check for citations, peer review, and whether claims can be confirmed elsewhere.
Purpose – Why was the source created? Is it objective, biased, or persuasive? What’s the author’s agenda?
Using the CRAAP Test helps you spot potential problems, but sometimes you can’t answer these questions from the source alone. That’s where lateral reading comes in.
The CRAAP Test is a solid starting point, but the site you’re evaluating isn’t always the best place to verify authority, accuracy, or point of view. Authors and organizations can misrepresent themselves, and sites that look professional may be promoting an agenda.
Lateral reading means stepping outside the source. Open a new tab and search for information about the author, organization, or publication. By reading across multiple sources—not just down the page in front of you—you can see what others are saying and gather outside evidence.
This practice strengthens your evaluation, helps confirm credibility, and gives you a clearer sense of whether a source deserves a place in your research.