Credible Sources of Information

• Goals
  • Describe a credible source.
  • Establish source credibility on a scale that extends from (not credible) ⟹ (highly credible)
  • Get your information from highly credible sources

Credible Source (What)

A source is credible when the following criteria are met:

1. Truth: The statements made are true or they have a high probability of being true in cases where absolute truth is unknowable.

2. Accurate: The message presents an accurate view of reality; it is free from bias (unfounded preferences).

3. Complete: The message presents a whole picture; it is not missing essential information.

4. Justified: The message is justified by effective methods: citations, logic, discussions of limitations, nuances, complexities, and such.

5. Author: The author is known to the reader. The author reveals potential conflicts of interest.

Rationale

1. Get true, accurate, and justified information.
2. Avoid wasting time fact-checking sources that are not credible.
3. Avoid buying into inaccurate information (information that turns out not to be true).

How to Figure Out Source Credibility.

Principles

1. Most sources do not meet the criteria for a high level of credibility. These sources can be ignored. Why waste your time?

2. Some sources do meet the standards. The easy way to get good information is to find these sources and mine (as in gold mine) the information therein.

3. Credibility exists on a continuum that spans from (not credible) to (highly credible).

Framework

1. Hard Way: Do a detailed analysis of the source and information that they provide. Look for potential bias, hidden conflicts of interest, and so forth. Look for obvious bias. Look for missing information. Do fact checks. Compare the source with other credible sources and look for agreements. Look for citations to credible sources. Triangulate. Note: This skill is super-useful but generally I rely on simpler methods because this method takes a lot of work and a long time to learn.

2. Known Credible Sources (Easy Way): Get most information from sources that are known to be credible.

   1. Wikipedia. Britannica.
   2. News: Get news from credible sources. You can find a ranking of all news sources at Ad Fontes Media; see this note.
   3. College textbooks, college professors.
   4. Scholarly research publications.
   5. US Government websites. University websites.

3. Follow the Trail. Get one credible source and follow its trail of citations. In general, credible sources follow other credible sources.

4. Research the source itself. Google “Is XYZ a credible source of information,” where XYZ represents a source you want to check on.

5. Fact Check. Use fact-checking organizations.

Tips

1. Build your own list of credible sources.