People Research: Strategies for Researching a Person

Evaluating the information that you find is an important part of conducting research - especially sources you find on the open web. Here are some things to keep in mind when looking at information:

• Who is the author or publisher of this information? What background, expertise, or credentials help to prove the quality and trustworthiness of the source?
• What type of publication does the information come from (i.e. book, journal, peer reviewed journal, magazine, website, etc.) and is it appropriate for the research?
• When was the information published? Is the information current enough for your topic?
• Where did the information in the publication come from? Are there references provided? Does it seem accurate or can it be checked elsewhere?
• Why was this information published? Is it is meant to inform or persuade? Is there bias or does the information seem to be as objective as possible?
• How will this information be helpful to your research? How is it relevant to your question or topic?

There are many different evaluation "tests" that can be used but the CRAAP Test from the California State University, Chico library provides a handy mnemonic and guide with questions to keep in mind while evaluating:

Four Strategies:

1. Check for previous work: Look to see if the story has already been fact checked. See suggested sites below.
2. Go upstream to the source: Follow the path to the original source of the information. If in an image, try a reverse image search.
3. Read laterally. Read what others are saying about the author of the original source and publication it is published on.
4. Circle back. Getting lost? Circle back to the original story with your new found information/understanding.

The four steps outlined above are from the e-book Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers as are the fact checking sites highlighted below. For more strategies and guidance look at the book, and in addition, visit Allsides.com to read up on media bias.

Tips for spotting Fake News:

Here are some characteristics of a scholarly source:

• Author's credentials are listed and contact information usually provided.
• May have more than one author.
• A works cited or reference list is included.
• Often written in technical language or discipline-specific terminology.
• Meant for a specific audience of scholars, professionals, or students.
• Research articles tend to have an abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology, results, and conclusion.
• If images are included, they are there to support the research.
• Little to no advertising.
• Take a look at the publication - in databases, you can often click on the publication title to find a profile to determine if it is a scholarly source. If you still are not sure, you can also search for the publication in Ulrichsweb Global Serials Directory. 

Note: Sometimes "non-scholarly" materials are returned in results even if you are searching scholarly publications - these may include book reviews or editorials. Be sure to evaluate carefully and check the document type if you are searching in a database.