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Research Help: Evaluating a Source

The T.R.A.P.P. Test for Source Evaluation

You already know that not everything you read on the internet is credible.  But how can you figure out what information you CAN rely on?

It can be difficult  to know which sources are the most credible and useful for your purposes. The T.R.A.A.P. Test (Timeliness, Relevance, Accuracy, Authority, Purpose) is one way to remember all the questions you should be weighing when evaluating an article.

T.R.A.A.P. is an acronym that stands for Timeliness, Relevance, Accuracy, Authority, and Purpose. When considering the Timeliness of a source, ask yourself how current is the source? Was it updated recently? Is it current enough for your topic? When judging the Relevance of a source, consider if the information is related to your topic, who the intended audience is, and whether it meets the requirements of your assignment. Next, ask yourself is the information in this source Accurate? Does the author cite other credible sources? The next step is to consider the Authority of the source and the author. Is the author qualified to write about this topic? The more relevant credentials they have, such as frequently being cited by other experts, the more authoritative they are on that topic. Finally, determine what the Purpose of the source is. Why was this source created? Is it objective information or is it an opinion? Is there a potential bias?

 

Popular Sources vs. Scholarly Sources

When you reach the stage of research where you're evaluating the quality and usefulness of sources, keep in mind that not all sources are scholarly, or written with a scholarly audience in mind. Generally, you'll want to avoid popular sources that are written for general audiences and often have agendas or profit motivations influencing the information they're presenting. To help you identify popular from scholarly sources, consider these distinctions:

Let’s compare Popular Sources and Scholarly Sources. Popular sources are generally short in length and often do not include citations or references. The author is often anonymous and is paid by the publication to create content for a general public audience. Popular sources typically are accompanied by advertisements and are often accessible online, sometimes without a paywall. In comparison, Scholarly Sources contain in-depth coverage of a topic with original research and/or critical analysis. They also contain citations referring to other research or the previous works of other experts. The author of a scholarly source is an expert in their field and is not paid by the publisher for their work. This type of source is written with an academic or professional audience in mind and is often peer-reviewed by other experts for accuracy and credibility. Scholarly sources may be available online, but they typically require a subscription or a library log-in to access full-text versions of articles. There are no ads that accompany scholarly sources.

Bonus: A third less common source you may encounter are those in trade publications. These are journal or magazine articles written and published by professionals in a specific field for other professionals. While potentially very informative, trade sources aren't considered scholarly because the content is not necessarily original research or peer-reviewed.

Map of a Scholarly Article

How to Read an Article in Academic Search Premier

Academic Search Premier logo

Academic Search Premier is a general use database and therefore contains academic information from many different subject areas. It's a great place to start looking for scholarly articles when you're not sure where to begin. Below is a map of the basic parts of an article page as it would appear in this database.

 After clicking on a specific source from Academic Search Premier, the title of the source is in bold font at the top of the page. All the text below provides a summary of the source’s publication and author information as well as the content of the source. Just below the author section where it says “Source” or “Periodical” you can learn where the document was published such as in an academic journal, magazine, or newspaper. The last section of this page is the “Abstract” which is a short summary of the source. Reading this section will help you quickly determine the usefulness of the source for your goals. To access the full source, locate at the top of the left sidebar a link that says either HTML Full Text or PDF Full Text. If both are available, keep in mind that HTML Full Text is ONLY the text and may be missing images, graphics, charts, etc. PDF Full Text is the article in its original formatting and is generally the better option for viewing and printing. In the right sidebar there is a list of tools to help you engage with the source. Halfway down this list is a link that says “Cite” which will provide a ready-made citation in several available citation styles. Make sure it’s set to MLA when copying and pasting a citation into a bibliography for an English class.