Source Credibility and Bias: A Writer's Best Friend

Why is it important for a writer to carefully evaluate a source's credibility? Some sources are simply more trustworthy than others, such as government, educational, and some non-profit groups are generally acceptable or trustworthy sources for an academic paper or any other form of writing. What must you, the writer, take into consideration when determining whether or not a source is credible? The main aspects that affect a writer's credibility are flagrant biases, the author's credentials, and how current the information is.

The first step to take when evaluating a source is to check the date. Is the information current? What held true a decade ago, or even yesterday in some cases, may not be valid today. As a writer, you do not want to support your work with information that is out of date; this will negatively affect your own credibility with your readers.

The second step is to validate the author. Does the author have the appropriate credentials to make the claim or statements? This is important! To give an example, suppose you are writing an article on Irritable Bowel Syndrome or some other health condition, using an expert in the specific field (a gastroenterologist-an internal medicine physician who specializes in disorders of the digestive system would be an appropriate expert for this example) would carry more weight with your reader than advice from your cousin or sister. Now this is not to say that your cousin's personal experiences would not have a place in an article of this nature, but it should not be your only source of information.