English 10 / Unit 9: Literary Analysis and Research Writing
9.4 Evaluating Sources
Notes
Not every source is trustworthy. Check each with the CRAAP test.
- Currency: Is it recent enough for the topic?
- Relevance: Does it answer your question?
- Authority: Is the author qualified? Who publishes it?
- Accuracy: Is it supported by evidence? Can you verify it elsewhere?
- Purpose: Is it meant to inform, sell or persuade? Is it biased?
- Lateral reading: open new tabs to see what other sources say about a website or author.
- Domains like .edu and .gov are often reliable, but always check the author and evidence.
Practice
A student checks whether a website's author has expertise in the subject. Which CRAAP element is this?
Authority concerns the author's qualifications.
Which practice is "lateral reading"?
Lateral reading checks a source by consulting others.
For a paper on current smartphone use among teens, which source is least appropriate?
It fails the currency test for a fast-changing topic.
Ready for more? Take the Unit 9 test.