Currency
Would you feel comfortable using an article discussing "cutting-edge, new research" on cancer treatments that has not been updated or revised since 2001?
No--the general rule in the sciences is the more recent, the better.
Is kidspast.com a source you would feel comfortable citing in a paper about the causes of the Civil War for your US history class?
No, likely not.
What section on a website is a good place to find information about the publisher or organization responsible for the site's creation and contents?
The About section
Snopes.com, FactCheck.org, and PolitiFact.com are examples of what?
Fact Checkers/fact-checking websites
What is the name for a story or headline on the internet that the main purpose of it is to attract attention and encourage visitors to go to a link for a particular web page?
Clickbait
How do you tell if a web page or an article on a website is up to date? Where might you look to find out?
A well-maintained website generally will say at the bottom of the initial screen when it was last updated or when it was originally created and made available on the Web.
In a journal article, where is a good place to first look to decide if the article might be relevant to your research question without having to read the whole thing?
The abstract
True or False: URLs ending in .com or .org are more likely to be reliable and trustworthy than ones ending in .edu or .gov
False--it's actually the other way around!
Would you feel comfortable citing an article on global warming in a paper for your earth science class that has splling airrors, A LOT OF CAPITALIZED WORDS, or...............dramatic punctuation?!?!?!
No, you really shouldn't.
What is one of the most well-known satire news sites?
The Onion
If a web page or article does not say when it was last updated, what is another way you can tell whether the story is up to date?
(Hint: "404 ERROR Page Not Found")
Check the hyperlinks and images--if you get that error message, the site might be outdated.
True or False: You could not use an article from Teen Vogue called "What It's Like to Be in College When You're Autistic" for any research paper in college.
False--it depends on what you're researching!
What publisher would you trust more for research on chemotherapy: The Mayo Clinic or Time Magazine?
The Mayo Clinic
Which evidence is typically more compelling and authoritative: a study of 22 participants or a study of 200 participants?
200 participants--small studies often can be misleading and draw hasty conclusions.
What is it called when you're more likely to accept information that supports your own preexisting beliefs and dismiss information that does not?
Confirmation bias
You see an outrageous-sounding story from abcnews-us.com with the headline "Florida Passes Bill Legalizing Recreational Use of Marijuana" dated March 17, 2018. How could you find out for sure if it's real and current or if it's a recycled story?
Use the links provided in such outrageous items to trace them back to their original source (you may have to follow several links) and check their publication dates OR Google search it and see if other more trustworthy sites have also reported on it.
Who can you ask for help if you're not sure whether an article is relevant to your research?
The library of course!
Where is a great place to look for free access to scholarly and peer-reviewed journal articles?
The library's databases
Your professor only wants you to use peer-reviewed journal articles for your research paper. Explain what "peer-reviewed" means.
The article has been evaluated by other researchers and experts in that field for assessment of its merit before it was accepted for publication to the journal.
What likely is the purpose of an article with the headline "How to Quit Your Job, Move to Paradise and Get Paid to Change the World"?
Advertise/sell you something or persuade
Evaluate this site's CURRENCY: http://www.cnn.com/US/OJ/daily/9510/10-04/whats_next/index.html
How this site even still exists is astounding.
Evaluate this article's RELEVANCY: https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/the-march-for-our-lives-presents-a-radical-new-model-for-youth-protest
What kind of research question could you and could you not use this article for?
Could: comparing reactions on the left and right to youth gun control protests
Not: pro gun control or pro youth protest without consulting more objective sources or sources from the other side of the argument
Evaluate this article's AUTHORITY: http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2018/04/25/the-changing-profile-of-unmarried-parents/
Pew: respected, non-partisan, takes data from US census
Author: has the related credentials and expertise
Evaluate this article's ACCURACY: https://hiptoro.com/study-proves-cannabis-is-a-viable-crohns-disease-treatment/?utm_source=VMA&utm_medium=VMA548
Headline with a huge claim, very small sample size, not much recent data to corroborate, story recycled since 2013, misinterpretations of the legitimate results of the actual single study, etc.
Evaluate this article's PURPOSE: https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10843
(Think about biases, headlines and highlighted portions, the type of language used, about the publisher of the site, if it makes you feel any kind of strong emotion, etc.)
Answers will vary, but it's really conservatively biased.