Information Literacy Modules: 3 Authority is Constructed and Contextual

Credibility is Contextual

Used with permission from UW Libraries / Kali Stoeher & Anna Eisen: Research 101: Authority is Constructed and Contextual
Research 101: Credibility is Contextual Transcript available at bottom of box

Think About

When you have an information need, consider why you need that information (what is the purpose). If you are arguing with friends over a point such as how many world cup titles Brazil has won (5 as of 2021), using a source such as Wikipedia would probably suffice (FIFA World Cup Wikipedia page). But if you were doing research for a scholarly paper on Red Tide in Florida, you would want to go beyond Wikipedia's Red Tide page and find more credible and authoritative sources -- context matters.

How to "Go Beyond" Wikipedia - A Tip

You are doing some background research on Red Tide, and you find Wikipedia's Red Tide page. Reading through the article, you have a better understanding of the topic, but you also know your professor won't let you use Wikipedia as a cited source. To take your Internet research a step further, look at the references that Wikipedia is citing. 

The image below shows part of the references on the Wikipedia page. If you go to that page you are able to click on many of the references that link out to an open source.

The first reference is to information on the NOAA site. NOAA stands for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This is a government agency which studies climate, weather, oceans, and coasts and shares that information with other scientists and with the general population. This is an agency with authority and credibility which is a much better source to cite in a paper. 

If you go to NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program you will find places you can search or browse for publications and data related to Coral Reefs.

Summary

If you are doing research using the Internet, Wikipedia might give you some good background information to develop better searches. You want to go beyond the Wikipedia article and a way to do that is follow the citations -- remember citation chaining? 

Authority and Credibility in Context

When doing research, you can find credible sources in a variety of formats. As a researcher, you need to be able to evaluate what you find to determine whether it is a suitable source.

Example

You are interested in Mars exploration and want to research the potential for life on Mars. You find the following blog article:

Grotzinger, John. "Habitability, Taphonomy, and Curiosity's Hunt for Organic Carbon." Mars Exploration / Martian Diaries. 30 Dec. 2013, https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/blog/2013/12/habitability-taphonomy-and-curiositys-hunt-for-organic-carbon

It is not a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal article, it is a blog. Does that mean it is not credible? No! You need to look at the context in which it was written (who wrote it and why) and the context of your need.

Who Wrote the Blog Article?

John Grotzinger. Who is he? Doing some searching you will find that Dr. Grotzinger is the former NASA Project Scientist for the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover mission. He is also a professor at  California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech) in the Division of Geological and Planetary Science.

Why Was it Written?

As you look at Dr. Grotzinger's post and look at NASA's Mars Exploration Program blog site, you will get all sorts of information about the science that is being done and the need to share that scientific data with science researchers. In turn, various science researchers including professors such as Dr. Grotzinger, and graduate students working on Mars science, are contributing to the scholarly conversation by posting articles about the science they are working on.

Library Resources

You can follow up on Dr. Grotzinger's research by searching library databases for articles written by him (search for him as an author).

In the database Academic Search Complete, an advanced search for John Grotzinger as an author and Mars as a subject will give you more of Dr. Grotzinger's research. The first article is from the magazine Scientific American. It is not a peer-reviewed journal, but it is a credible source designed for the general public. The second article is from the peer-reviewed journal Space Science Reviews. Depending on your research needs (context) one or both sources would be great.

Peer-Reviewed Sources

What is a Peer-Reviewed Journal?

• A panel or board of scholarly reviewers in the subject field of the journal read through the submitted articles and look at the quality of research and adherence to editorial standards before the article is accepted for publication.
• If your sources are from peer-reviewed journals, they have been checked by scholars in that field for quality and significance.
• The reviewers are experts in their field and usually do a “blind review” where they don’t know the identity of the author whose work they are judging.
• Peer-reviewed journals are sometimes called refereed journals because the reviewers are acting like referees when judging the quality of the article.

Basically, peer-review is a process for ensuring that academic articles have been examined by other experts in the field before publication.

Although you can find some authoritative and credible sources in non-traditional formats (wikis, blogs, tweets, etc.), sometimes you really do need a peer-reviewed source.

How to Find a Peer-Reviewed Article

You are doing research on Florida Manatees for a biology class and your instructor says you need to find at least one peer-reviewed journal article.  How do you do this?

Many databases have an option to limit your results to those coming from Scholarly (peer-reviewed) Journals. This can save you a lot of time when searching.

In the database Academic Search Complete, you can check a box to limit your search to Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals right from the search screen. 

If you forget to check that box prior to your search, you can modify your results by using the "Limit to" facet to check the box to limit your results to Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals.

Note: In both cases, the box for "Full Text" was also checked. This ensures you get results where the full text of the article is available, and not just the abstract (a summary of a scholarly article).

Evaluating Sources

You understand that non-traditional sources can still contain valuable information, but you need to evaluate these sources.

The CRAAP Test

The CRAAP test is a system you can use to evaluate sources you find to determine if they fit your need.

Currency

The timeliness of the information

• When was the information published or posted?
• Has the information been revised or updated?
• Does your topic require current information, or will older sources work as well?
• Are the links functional?

Relevance

The importance of the information for your needs

• Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question?
• Who is the intended audience?
• Is the information at an appropriate level (i.e. not too elementary or advanced for your needs)?
• Have you looked at a variety of sources before determining this is one you will use?
• Would you be comfortable citing this source in your research paper?

Authority

The source of the information

• Who is the author/ publisher/ source/ sponsor?
• What are the author’s credentials or organizational affiliations?
• Is the author qualified to write on the topic?
• Is there contact information, such as a publisher or email address?
• Does the URL reveal anything about the author or source? (e.g. .com, .edu, .gov, .org, .net)

Accuracy

The reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the content

• Where does the information come from?
• Is the information supported by evidence?
• Has the information been reviewed or refereed?
• Can you verify any of the information in another source or from personal knowledge?
• Does the language or tone seem unbiased and free of emotion?
• Are there spelling, grammar, or typographical errors?

Purpose

The reason the information exists (possible bias)

• What is the purpose of the information? (to inform, teach, sell, entertain, or persuade)
• Do the authors/ sponsors make their intentions or purpose clear?
• Is the information fact, opinion, or propaganda?
• Does the point of view appear objective and impartial?
• Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional or personal biases?

A Word Document version of the CRAAP test which you can print or download and save for future reference is available at the bottom of this box.

Library Resources vs. The Internet

In addition to Electronic Library Resources ,   Useful Websites for Students and Research Guides are also available.  Useful Websites for Students and Research Guides  are developed and published by PHSC's librarians. The resources located on both sites have been reviewed and evaluated for content, quality and usefulness for scholarly activities. There are many outstanding websites that contribute to our understanding of many academic subjects.  Wolfram MathWorld for example provides good information on a wide range of topics in mathematics.