Establishing Reliability of Information Sources

When you write an essay or other explanation of principles and processes in this class, you need to refer to published literature, spoken comments you have heard, and to information you obtained from the web. Establishing the reliability of the information is important, and you as the writer are responsible to make a serious attempt to verify your sources.

If you cite information from published literature, establish if the information is 

• an editorial (opinion and point of view of an informed person), 

• authoritative publication (reviewed for accuracy and completeness by an editorial policy or peer review),

• propaganda/advertising (published for purposes of self interest of the writer/publisher, usually without review for accuracy) or 

• unspecified accuracy.

Sometimes it is difficult to obtain this information, particularly when the information is propaganda. It likely will be disguised, and written in ways that appear to be authoritative. The web is particularly prone to this kind of misinformation.

For web sites, determine 

• who pays the expenses for construction and maintenance of the site, 

• the organizations that it may represent, or 

• a statement of policy or principles posted on the site. 

Clues may also be found from the nature of hyperlinks from the site, and the context of the information that is associated with the hyperlinks. Be prepared to make a serious effort for any web citations you make to determine this category. 

For academic uses, the information may be less likely to be used as propaganda, but read the information critically and be cautious to apply the test, "Does this present the positive, negative and neutral aspects fairly, and is the information given with associated indications of the uncertainties associated with conclusions." 

If the information is derived from a scientific publication with stated policies of conflict of interest and transparency of authors and reviewers, it may be assumed the information is reliable. However, in recent years even an international journal of high quality, Nature, has come under criticism and may have been compromised by support for it publication offerings by biased interests. This is a journal published by a for-profit company, which opens possibilities of conflict of business interest and scientific objectivity. A similarly prestigious journal, Science, is published by a non-profit organization with a stated policy of objectivity and a wide diversity of membership. Therefore, one can expect less opportunity of a conflict of interest. Nevertheless, bias can be subtle, and one should always hold a healthy skepticism.