Evaluating Webpages

There is a lot of useful information available via a Google search - articles, reports, official sites, blogs, social media, film clips and other sources. But not all these webpages are suitable for use in your research and assignments. Material can be out of date, biased, inaccurate and misleading.

A key skill you must develop is how to evaluate what you read and see, both in print and via the Internet. This is a brief checklist of things to consider when looking at webpages (or indeed print books and articles) and deciding whether to include them in your research:

• Accuracy
• Authority
• Objectivity
• Currency

We've created a guide for critical evaluation.

Remember, if you decide that your internet source is reliable, trustworthy and useful you will need to cite it (and just saying ‘Internet’ is not enough!). You can find our referencing guidelines on our website.