Credible Sources

When we do research and advance knowledge with our own ideas, we need to consult sources that have credibility and are trustworthy. We refer to this as credible sources. What makes a source credible? We use these criteria:

Credible author(s) - written by those with background and expertise on the topic of the source.
Credible publisher - published in a source with a reputation for high quality including a thorough review process of each publication, regular intervals of publication, and updating information when found incorrect.
Recency - the most current research on a topic lends credibility, though the research conducted will vary by topic.
Bias - conclusions drawn should come from strong research design, and not be influenced by personal opinions; If author has particular bias on topic it should be clearly disclosed.
Type of source - sources are published in different formats that vary by purpose, publication timeline, author expertise and length of source.

Sources by type, expertise, timeline, and credibility
Source Type	Author Expertise	Publication Timeline	Research Credibility
Newspaper Article	Likely covers many subjects with little expertise	Daily to few days after writing	Low, unstable source, information may change
Magazine Article	Likely to have interest and some background but not in-depth expertise	Weeks to publication after writing	Lends credible information though not thoroughly evaluated for accuracy
Peer-Reviewed Article in Research Journal	Expertise on topic of article	Several months to publication due to stringent review process	Strong research source, credible due to high level of expert review
Research Journal	Author expertise depends on type of article: more expertise for research than review article	Weeks (review article) to months (research article) to publish depending on source type	Research articles strongly credible; review articles helpful to direct your research but not strong sources in themselves
Book	Expertise on topic; may have multiple authors to cover different aspects	Months to years after writing	Credible information though may not be most current due to lengthy publication timeline
Website/Blog	Expertise depends on author - will vary greatly depending on specific website or blog	Quickly, no inherent review process before publishing	Credibility will depend on author credibility. Should consult other sources to validate.