This framework is designed to help you evaluate your sources, as well as critically reflect on your own biases. The following questions can help guide you as you determine whether or not the sources you encounter are worth taking into the next step of the research process.

The Personal Steps:

I—Identify your emotions surrounding the topic

• What are your honest opinions regarding the topic?
• Have you addressed your internal biases?
• What identities are affected by this and should be represented?

F—Find unbiased reference sources that will provide an overview of the topic

• Conduct a general knowledge overview.
• Search for information in encyclopedias, wikis, dictionaries, etc.

I—Intellectual courage to find sources outside of your comfort zone or thesis

• Have the courage to find authoritative sources with different viewpoints on the topic.
• Have the courage to reject unsound arguments across viewpoints.
• Have the courage to accept credible arguments outside of your thesis.

The Source Steps:

A—Authority

• Who wrote/created the source?
• What makes the author an authority on the topic (degrees, credentials, profession, etc.)?
• Have they written anything else?
• Do they specialize in certain topics or fields?

P – Purpose/point of view of source

• Why was the information published?
• Who is the intended audience?
• Is the content relevant to your topic or information needs?
• Are diverse perspectives represented?

P – Publisher

• What type of publisher is it (scholarly, commercial, government, self, etc.)?
• What other types of work have they published (if any)?
• Is the information published in its original form or has it been revised?

L – List of sources

• Does the source have citations? What do they look like?
• Does the number of sources cited make sense with the length of the source?
• Do the types of sources cited make sense with the topic/content of the source?

Y – Year of publication

• When was this source originally published?
• How does the age of the source impact the information (if at all)?
• What is the currency of the cited information?
• Is the information routinely updated?

CC BY NC. Adapted by Jennifer Switzer from University of Wisconsin Libraries adapted from “If I APPLY Think-Questions for Each Step” by Kat Phillips, Eryn Roles, and Sabrina Thomas.

A Note About Peer Review:

Peer Review is an important vetting process that many academic sources go through to further confirm research soundness and overall credibility. Because of this, many professors will require that some or all of the sources that you use in your research be peer-reviewed! One way to ensure your sources are previewed is by using search limits on the left side of the screen when searching the library's catalog or databases.

However, you should always critically evaluate your sources, even if they are peer-reviewed! Authors and reviewers are human and can make mistakes. While peer review can be an excellent litmus test for source credibility and academic integrity, it is not the be-all and end-all. Always exercise your critical thinking skills!

There are also plenty of credible sources out there that are not peer-reviewed, such as books, newspapers, government studies, trade journals, etc. The academic landscape is also changing, and there are some scholarly journals out there that are moving away from peer review or using a less traditional peer review process. 

When deciding between using peer-reviewed and non peer-reviewed sources, always defer to your assignment/professor's requirements first! Then, use your critical thinking skills to evaluate your sources, no matter where they come from!