Check Your Facts
EVALUATING WEBSITES
When you find a promising webpage, you often need to do some research about the site itself, exploring information provided on the homepage or in the About section.
Questions to help you evaluate websites as you research:
Author
Who is the author?
How is the author qualified?
Is the author an expert?
Does the author have bias? (Remember that a bias may not be directly stated.)
If no author is listed, why? Be wary of any site that does not list an author or group responsible for producing the content.
Host
Who hosts the site?
What is their purpose?
Does the host have bias? (Remember that a bias may not be directly stated.)
What is the domain extension? This can help you determine how reputable a website is. For example, .gov is the domain for United States government sites and .edu is for US Educational institutuions.
Sources
Does the site provide its sources?
Does it refer/link you to other credible sources?
Is the information able to be cross-referenced?
Currency
Is the site regularly updated?
Getting Started: CrossSearch
Data and Statistics
Use these resources to find data and statistics about your topic
- ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the U.S. This link opens in a new window
Statistics relating to social, political and economic conditions in the United States.
- Historical Statistics of the United States This link opens in a new window
Historical statistics addressing population, work, economic factors, and governance in the United States.
- USA.govThe "Google" of U.S. government websites. Use this search engine to find information published on .gov sites.
Subject Specific Resources
Library (Subscription) Databases:
- SocINDEX This link opens in a new window
Journal articles, and citations for books, conference proceedings, and other resources, in the field of sociology.
- ProQuest Criminal Justice This link opens in a new window
Academic and professional journal articles, reports, blogs and other sources relating to criminal justice.
- Criminal Justice (Gale OneFile) This link opens in a new window
Journal articles and magazines about criminal justice, law and law enforcement, security and terrorism.
- ProQuest Social Science This link opens in a new window
Academic and professional journal articles, dissertations, magazines, and news dealing with a variety of social science fields.
Public Websites:
- Uniform Crime Reporting ProgramThe UCR Program consists of four data collections: The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), the Summary Reporting System (SRS), the Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) Program, and the Hate Crime Statistics Program. The UCR Program publishes annual reports for each of these data collections and a preliminary semiannual report of summary data each winter, as well as special compilations on cargo theft, human trafficking, and NIBRS topical studies.
Library (Subscription) Databases:
- HeinOnline: Government, Politics & Law for Academics This link opens in a new window
A library of legal resources including law journals; government, legal and diplomatic documents; books; reports; and historical sources.
Library (Subscription) Databases:
- ERIC This link opens in a new window
Journal articles and magazines focused on education, in addition to reports and other tools designed for teachers.
- ProQuest Education This link opens in a new window
Journal articles, magazines, dissertations, books and other sources relating to primary, secondary and higher education.
Public Websites:
- National Center for Education StatisticsThe National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations.
- Digest of Education Statistics"The primary purpose of the Digest of Education Statistics is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of American education from prekindergarten through graduate school."
Library (Subscription) Databases:
- PsycINFO This link opens in a new window
Citations and abstracts for journal articles, book chapters, books and dissertations in the field of psychology.
- Health & Medicine (Gale OneFile) This link opens in a new window
Journal, magazine, and news articles, general information, images, videos, and audio on topics relating to medicine and consumer health.
Public Websites:
- PubMed This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
Citations for journal articles in the life sciences, particularly relating to biomedicine, neuroscience, as well as plant and animal sciences.
- Health Data and Statistics from the CDCHealth data and statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)"The mission of the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) is to provide statistical information that will guide actions and policies to improve the health of the American people. As the Nation’s principal health statistics agency, NCHS leads the way with accurate, relevant, and timely data."
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS)"It is the mission of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) to enhance and protect the health and well-being of all Americans. We fulfill that mission by providing for effective health and human services and fostering advances in medicine, public health, and social services."
Library (Subscription) Databases:
- Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
Journal articles, magazines, and news in almost every subject area.
- ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
Journal articles, magazines, and news in almost every subject area.
- JSTOR Arts & Sciences This link opens in a new window
Journal articles in almost every subject area, including some historical articles back to the 17th century.
Public Websites:
- USA.govThe "Google" of U.S. government websites. Use this search engine to find information published on .gov sites.