Information from websites and other online resources also can be used in your academic work. Unlike peer reviewed journal articles or text books, these online sources can be created by anyone. It is therefore essential to evaluate these sources to ensure they are suitable to use in your studies.

How to Evaluate a Webpage?

Below is a mock webpage that has been created to illustrate what to look out for when evaluating sources of information found on the internet. 

Click here to view a large version of this image

Credits: Website homepage mock-up was created using Wix.com

Website Domains

Website domains can be useful indicators of the reliability and the purpose of a website. The different domains can indicate what kind of website it is, such as educational, government, or commercial. This information can be helpful to evaluate the reliability and relevance of the website.

.edu (educational institution) and .gov (government) - more likely to be reliable and unbiased.

.org (non-profit organisation) and .asn (non-commercial organisation) - could have bias content towards one side of a topic.

.com (commercial site) and .net (network) - may be unreliable and need to be critically evaluated.

How to evaluate a blog post?

Below is a mock blog post that has been created to illustrate what to look out for when evaluating information from blogs. Click on each of the elements to find out more.

Using Wikipedia for Academic Research

Wikipedia is a free, online encyclopedia containing articles on a wide range of topics. Can you use Wikipedia articles in academic work/ research?

Wikipedia articles can be useful resources for providing an introduction or overview of a topic.

Watch the following video to find out how Wikipedia articles can be used in academic work/ research.