Evaluating Web Sources: Evaluating Authorship

When you are conducting academic research, you must be very careful if you are planning to consult Wikipedia. Read why at Wikipedia's About page:

"Wikipedia is written collaboratively by largely anonymous volunteers who write without pay. Anyone with Internet access can write and make changes to Wikipedia articles, except in limited cases where editing is restricted to prevent disruption or vandalism. Users can contribute anonymously, under a pseudonym, or, if they choose to, with their real identity." 

Accessed October 22, 2015

Is there an author or organization clearly indicated?

• If there is an author, how reputable is this person?

• Can the author be contacted? (Does the page contain a name, email, phone number or address?)

• What can you find out about the author? (Is there any information on the author's credentials or field of expertise?)

• If there is no information on the site, use a search engine such as Yahoo or Google. You may find the author’s homepage or other documents which mention this person. If the person is associated with a university, look at the university web site.

• If there is an organization sponsoring the page, what can you learn about the organization and who they are?

• Does the organization take responsibility for the information on the website?

• Does it monitor or review the material on the site?

• Look at the address for the site. Does it end in .edu, indicating that it’s an educational institution? If it has .gov, it should contain government- sponsored material. Addresses with .org are usually non-profit organizations. If the site has a .com address, it is usually a commercial site.