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ELA
How to Check Whether a Source Is Reliable
Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose
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Reliable sources help readers build claims on evidence instead of rumor, opinion, or misleading information. In school, research, and everyday life, source checking protects you from false facts and weak arguments. A useful strategy is to slow down before trusting a source and look for signs that it is current, relevant, authoritative, accurate, and fair. These checks are often called the CRAAP test.
Key Facts
- CRAAP = Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose.
- Currency means checking when the source was published or updated.
- Authority means identifying the author, organization, credentials, and expertise.
- Accuracy means checking evidence, citations, data, and agreement with other trustworthy sources.
- Purpose means asking whether the source aims to inform, sell, persuade, entertain, or mislead.
- Lateral reading = leaving the page to check what other reliable sources say about the author, publisher, and claim.
Vocabulary
- Reliability
- Reliability is the trustworthiness of a source based on its evidence, accuracy, author, and purpose.
- CRAAP test
- The CRAAP test is a checklist for judging Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose.
- Lateral reading
- Lateral reading is the strategy of opening other sources to verify information about a webpage, author, or claim.
- Bias
- Bias is a preference or viewpoint that can affect how information is selected, presented, or interpreted.
- Citation
- A citation is a note that identifies where information, evidence, or a quotation came from.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Trusting a source because it looks professional is wrong because design does not prove accuracy, expertise, or fairness.
- Using the first search result without checking it is wrong because search rank can be influenced by popularity, ads, or search engine settings.
- Assuming a .org or .edu domain is always reliable is wrong because domain type is only one clue and still requires checking the author, evidence, and purpose.
- Only choosing sources that agree with your opinion is wrong because confirmation bias can hide stronger evidence and opposing viewpoints.
Practice Questions
- 1 A student finds 5 articles for a research project. Two were updated within the last year, one is 4 years old, and two have no date listed. How many sources clearly pass the Currency check for a topic that needs current information?
- 2 You are checking a claim about school sleep schedules. Source A has 12 citations, names a sleep researcher as the author, and was updated this year. Source B has 0 citations, no author, and many ads. Give Source A and Source B one point each for Authority, Accuracy, and Currency if they clearly meet the category. What score out of 3 does each source receive?
- 3 A webpage argues that a new health product works, but the page is also selling the product and does not cite outside studies. Explain which CRAAP categories should make you cautious and what you should do next to verify the claim.