You are responsible for making sure your sources are credible.
How do you know if an article is from a Peer-Reviewed Journal?
- If you find it in ONESearch, ONESearch will tell you (it will say "Peer-Reviewed Journal" under the entry). If you have the "peer reviewed journal" filter on in ONESearch (see "Searching for Peer-Reviewed Articles"), that also helps!
- When in doubt, google the journal itself, and look for the "about" section. Does it say it's peer-reviewed?
How do you know if grey literature is from a credible source (if you are allowed to cite grey literature)?
- If it's from a federal agency (NASA, NOAA, CDC, EPA, etc), or from an intergovernmental agency, you can consider it credible. Look for .gov at the end of the URL as a good indicator. OR
- If it's from a credible NGO (non-governmental organization)
NGO's are charitable organizations that advocate on specific issues, and sometimes produce good science and data. The best way to tell if an NGO is credible is to look for a Wikipedia entry. Has this organization been around a while? What's their reputation? What score do they get on Charity Navigator?
