Website Evaluation Guide
Criteria for Evaluating Websites
Main Criteria Descriptions/Details Possible Answers
Author Who is providing the information? Scholars and academics;
What do you know about them and their credentials; Users generated; journalist
are they an expert? Varies greatly; none given; NA
Can you find out more and contact them?
Search for the author in a search engine. Has the author
written several publications on the topic?
Publisher/Affiliation Is the publisher credible? Publisher is credible and takes
Do they take responsibility for the content? responsibility; credible but doesn't
Is there a sponsor or affiliation? take responsibility; questionable
What other sources link to that website? publisher and does not take
responsibility; takes responsibility but is
not credible.
Bias/Balance/Purpose Is the language free of emotion? Sometimes, sometimes -rightist,
Does the organization or author indicate there will be a bias? sometimes-leftist; corporate
Is the purpose of the website to inform or spread an agenda? sponsorship; is balanced; generates
Are there ads? Are they trying to make money? content to sell ad space; NA
Why did they write the article?
Citations & Links Are there links to related sites and are they well organized? Citations; citations and links; links
Citations/Bibliography provided? no
Source: content.easybib.com/students/research-guide/website-credibility-evaluation
