Who is the author?
What can you determine about the expertise and credentials of the author?
- Academic author - author has a graduate degree in this field
- Academic-amateur - author has a graduate degree in another field but is an amateur in this field
- Professional author - author has professional and direct experience in the field
- Journalist - writer who shares information by researching and interviewing experts
- Nonprofessional - author does not have professional or academic experience, but may have a personal interest
- Corporate author - a corporation or organization is responsible for the content
- No author - resources with no specific person or organization, including authors that only have a screen name
To learn more about the author, try Googling the name and/or organization to find out more!
How was it edited?
What can you determine about the editorial process of the source?
- Peer reviewed - reviewed by other academic scholars prior to publication
- Medically reviewed - reviewed by a medical professional to ensure accuracy
- Professionally edited - reviewed by a professional editor or journalist for basic facts, grammar, etc.
- Nonprofessionally reviewed - reviewed by another person before being posted, even if it is a basic review
- Self-published - no review process as the author creates and publishes their own work
- Collaboratively edited - common in wikis, multiple people work together to edit a source
Why was this published?
What is the purpose of this source?
- Higher Education - published by an institution of higher education
- Government - published by a government entity
- Youth - published for youth, K-12
- Nonprofit - Published by a nonprofit organization
- Commercial - published to make a profit
- Personal - published for personal reasons
Look up the organization or entity in a search engine to learn more about their purpose and goals.