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ACA Library Research

Criteria to Evaluate a Source: Relevance, Authority, Bias (RAB)

Relevance Choose sources that are up to date, actionable, and meet your information need, by asking yourself: Does the information? Match My Topic? Answer my Question? Seem up to date? Have an intended audience? Authority Your credibility as a research writer depends on the trustworthiness of your sources, so check for: Author credentials or background? Cited References? Supporting evidence or statistics? Reliability of claims? Bias When choosing which sources to trust, beware of the point of view from the source creators and consider: Is the information fact, opinion or propaganda? To inform, teach, or persuade? Impartial or contain a conflict of interest?