Assessing Resource Credibility

When trying to determine whether or not an information resource is reliable, look for the essential features of credible publications.

Quality information sources

publish original work regularly;
receive outside validation;
use quality evidence;
check facts;
cost money.

Keep in mind that no single resource is perfect. Across the board, publications make mistakes or choose to focus coverage on one issue as opposed to another. Engaging with a variety of credible resources ensures that you’re getting the information you need.

Regular Publication Schedule

Check to see that the resource regularly publishes original work or does original reporting.

Look for recent article or post dates. For example, look at any of the home pages of our list of major newspapers; they all have articles with today’s date. Resources that don’t date material or don’t publish regularly are usually less credible.

Original Reporting

To assess whether or not a resource offers original reporting, look for articles that cite primary sources, such as interviews with experts or the people involved, government documents, court documents, data sets, tax filings, and major studies.

Some sites simply aggregate or repost work from credible resources. Here is an example of an article that simply paraphrases reporting from another site. In addition, popular podcasters and youtubers often discuss the news or recently published research. When resources like this refer to an original article, don’t just rely on someone’s take on it. Trace claims and information back to the original context.

Quality Evidence

Examine how the resource uses evidence in recently published content.

Are they interviewing experts and linking to articles or reports from credible organizations? For example, a recent Wall Street Journal article on AI literacy cites a scholarly study from the Journal of Marketing.

Do they receive prestigious journalism awards? ProPublica, an independent, non-profit investigative journalism site, has received extensive recognition.

Do they send reporters to witness events where they take place? Organizations like CNN and the New York Times operate news bureaus across the globe.

Do they gather data by conducting original research? Pew Research Center, for instance, offers information based on rigorous polling.

Keep in mind that any one piece of content can look better and follow higher standards for evidence than the average coverage that the resource provides. Examine multiple articles/posts and use a couple of the above strategies to confirm credibility.

Paywalls and Subscription Fees

Determine the source type and check for paywalls and subscription fees. Quality resources/publications used to provide a lot of valuable information for free online; that is no longer the case. It’s expensive to send people to witness events and interview those affected by those events. It’s cheap to have opinions and post them online; on the internet, you get what you pay for. Exceptions exist, like the publicly-funded NPR and the nonprofit news outlet ProPublica, but they use alternate funding models and donations, not ads-only support, to produce quality reporting.

To gain access to articles behind paywalls, use our library databases; if our library doesn’t own a resource/publication, place an interlibrary loan request. The ILL system will often email you a pdf of the article in a few days.

Outside Validation

Check the resource on at least two sites that evaluate popular media for reliability and biases:

For scholarly sources, see

You can also check whether other publications you trust have raised questions about this publication or its biases. For publications relevant to your field, look in trade publications and/or professional organization websites/blogs/newsletters, and magazines and newspapers, to see if they’ve recommended or mentioned your resource.

For additional validation, you might search the resource’s name in the UW-Madison Libraries search bar. While it’s not a perfect proxy for quality, inclusion in the library’s databases suggests a publication has some editorial integrity.

Fact-Checking and Corrections

Check whether the resource has a fact-checking process they apply to every article. Systematic fact-checking reduces the likelihood of incorrect facts and claims appearing in a publication’s articles. For example, The Washington Post’s editorial policy discusses its rules for fact-checking and avoiding conflicts of interest.

Look for evidence that the resource issues corrections. For example, The New York Times maintains a page with recent corrections and a searchable archive of all corrections.

You can find more information about how to validate resource content by reading the Vetting Online Content and Fact Checking Claims page.