Part of evaluating an information source involves evaluating the credentials or other qualifications of the individuals or organization that created it.
* Many articles and books are written by groups of scholars, and many web sites are created and maintained by “corporate authors” meaning the entire organization as a group is responsible for the content.
Authority refers to the author’s qualifications to write on a particular topic. To determine whether an author is, indeed, an authority in the field, try to ascertain:
who the authors are?
what are their credentials, if any?
do they hold a relevant position with a reputable institution?
do they have prior publications in the field?
is their work cited in other publications in the field?
do they have relevant experience or education?
other qualifications?
is contact information available for the authors?
You’ll find some tips on where to look for this information, here.
Note: Occasionally, reliable publishers will publish an anonymously authored article because they don’t want their readers to pre-judge the content based on the authors, or because the authors don’t want their names to be associated with a controversial idea. This is a special case, and it isn’t the same as a web site with no author information. You can reasonably assume that the author is reliable because the journal or publishing company is reliable.
Authority
Part of evaluating an information source involves evaluating the credentials or other qualifications of the individuals or organization that created it.
* Many articles and books are written by groups of scholars, and many web sites are created and maintained by “corporate authors” meaning the entire organization as a group is responsible for the content.
Authority refers to the author’s qualifications to write on a particular topic. To determine whether an author is, indeed, an authority in the field, try to ascertain:
You’ll find some tips on where to look for this information, here.
Note: Occasionally, reliable publishers will publish an anonymously authored article because they don’t want their readers to pre-judge the content based on the authors, or because the authors don’t want their names to be associated with a controversial idea. This is a special case, and it isn’t the same as a web site with no author information. You can reasonably assume that the author is reliable because the journal or publishing company is reliable.