Academic Affairs for Athletics Research Guide: Websites

CRAAP Test: Evaluate information/article

Evaluate the item you are considering to use in your research. Review the areas below to see if this is a good resource to use.

1. Currency: What is the copyright, publication, or posting date?   Is the information outdated?

2. Relevance: Is the source considered popular or scholarly?  Does the source answer your research question?

3. Authority: Who is the author?  Is the author credible or expert on topic?  Author's background (experience or education)?

4. Accuracy: Does the information see accurate? What kind of language,imagery, or tone is used (emotional, objective,        professional)?

5. Purpose: What is the purpose or motive of source (educational, commercial, entertainment, or promotional)?  Does the source seem biased?

Quick links to important Liberty websites that will be useful.                                                                    

If you find information from the internet and you want to know if it is safe to use, consider the following example to evaluate the website to see if you should use it for your research.

Also, evaluate the resource/site by reviewing the "About" page. It is good to know all sides of a topic but be careful not to use biased sources that may inflate information to suit their agenda.

Domain Extensions
.edu or .gov = Educational or Government resources can be informational and used for research.

.org = Sponsored Organizations can try to influence or sell ideas.

.com or .net = Business or Commercial sites can be biased, try to sell products.

.com = News sites have hot topics but may not be as credible as academic journals. Can range in credibility.

Personal sites such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter require caution. A personal site should not use as a resource for scholarly work.