EVALUATING
SOURCES
Prepared by:
MR. ARVIC L. FORTES
Subject Teacher
OBJECTIVES
1. Identify the features of valid sources
2. Determine the purposes for evaluating sources
3. Evaluate sources which are acceptable and
unacceptable in academic writing
EVALUATING
SOURCES
CRITERIA IN EVALUATING SOURCES
R - Relevance of the Source to the Topic
 How well does the source support your topic?
 You can check the title, table of contents,
summary/abstract, introduction, or headings of
the text to have a sense of its content
Check for relevance: Which of the sources would you pick if
you are doing a research on the Law of Supply and Demand?
a. An Introduction to Theories on Economics
b.How to Invest and Get Rich
c.105 Habits of Highly Effective Businessmen
If your answer is ‘a,’ you are correct.
CRITERIA IN EVALUATING SOURCES
A – Authority/Qualifications of the Author
 Is the author’s name identified?
 Is the author’s background, education, or training
related to the topic?
 Is he or she a professor in a reputable university?
 What are his/her publications?
 Is the contact information of the author available?
Check for author’s qualifications: Which of the following texts
would you use for a research regarding the Holocaust?
a. Dark Shadows of the Past: A Comparative Study on the
Holocaust and the Death March; authored by Mao Guevarra,
Ph.D. in History
b. Analyzing Nazism and Extremist Supremacy, authored by
Adolf Mussolini, RMD.
If your answer is ‘a,’ you are correct.
CRITERIA IN EVALUATING SOURCES
C – Currency / Date of Publication
 What is the date of the publication?
 As much as possible, the date of publication
should be at most five years earlier.
Check for currency: Which material will you use for a research
on electromagnetism?
a. Notes on Recent Researches in Electricity and Magnetism,
1853
b. Basics of Electromagnetism, 2015
c. The Foundation of Studies in Electromagnetism, 2009
d. Fundamentals of Physics, 2013
If your answer is ‘b,’ you are correct.
CRITERIA IN EVALUATING SOURCES
C – Contents/ Accuracy of the Information
 Does the author have a lot of citations in his or
her text and / or a bibliography or works cited
section?
 What is the tone and style of writing?
 Is the information inaccurate?
 Is the information obviously biased or prejudiced?
Check for accuracy: Which of these sources would you use for
a research on Marxism?
a. The Dark Side of Marxism, Hen Sy
b. Karl Marx and the Fundamentals of Marxism, Fred Angle
c. Effects of Marxism in an Industrialized World, Rick Carlos
The obvious answers are “b” and “c”, but you may also
use “a” as long as you balance it with other sources.
CRITERIA IN EVALUATING SOURCES
L – Location of Sources
 Where is the source published? Is it published
digitally or in print?
 Does it provide complete publication information
such as author(s)/editor(s), title, date of
publication, and publisher?
 What is the URL of the website?
ALWAYS REMEMBER RACAL:
Relevance
Authority
Currency
Accuracy
Location
(WHAT’S MORE) – INDIVIDUAL TASKS
1. Using any available textbook, make a matrix of evaluated
source. The 1st column must be labeled “Criteria” while the
2nd column must be labeled “Ratings”. Do not forget to
indicate all the important details of the main source like type
of source, title, author, date of publication, and name of
publication.
2. Accomplish the task for 5 minutes then submit your
output.
MY EVALUATED SOURCE