Evaluating your sources is a crucial step of the information research process.
Grey literature is the term used to describe literature that is not formally published as a book or journal article (Higgins, 2011), including:
The critical appraisal checklists listed further up the page can be used to evaluate research study designs such as systematic reviews, RCTs, cohort studies, etc., regardless if the research is formally published or otherwise provided as a conference paper, pre-print, etc. Evaluating studies in the form of grey literature becomes more difficult when limited information is provided, which can be the case for conference abstracts, clinical trial data etc.
Grey Literature Checklists
|
Reporting | Validity |
Author/ publisher | Who is the author, are they who they claim to be? |
Does the author/host have an agenda? Publishing body:
|
Host/sponsor | Does the hosting site have a sponsor? |
Is the information shared for commercial purposes? Does the site sponsor have a political or philosophical agenda? |
Facts and references | Are references included? |
Are references to research evidence? Is the information based on research/data/analysis or is it opinion piece? Can you verify some cited sources, facts? How current are the references? |
Currency | Is a publication or revised date provided? | Is the information current? |
The following checklist can be used to appraise both scholarly and non-scholarly sources.
Purpose | Why was the resource written? Was the author's purpose to inform, persuade, or to refute a particular idea or point of view? |
Audience | Is the resource intended for the general public, scholars, professionals,etc. |
Authority | What are the author's qualifications? Consider author's educational background, past writings and experience. Is the author associated with an organization or institution? Who is the publisher? Are they well known? Does any group control the publishing company? |
Accuracy | Is the information covered fact, opinion, or propaganda? Facts can be usually verified. Opinions evolve from the interpretation of facts. Are the author's conclusions or facts supported with references? |
Timeliness | When was the information published? Is the date of publication appropriate for your topic? |
Coverage | Is it relevant to your topic? Is the topic covered in depth, partially or is it an broad overview? Does the resource add new information, update other sources or substantiate other resources that you have consulted? |
Objectivity | Does the author present multiple viewpoints or is it biased? How do critical reviews rate the work? |
It's easy to find information on most any topic on the Web but whether the information found is reliable, up-to-date and unbiased is the question researchers face. Since anyone can post anything on the Web, it is very important to critically examine the information and the website. The CRAAP Test is a list of questions to help researchers evaluate sources of information. It is a tool to help you think critically about the quality of health information.
The CRAAP Test was developed by a librarian at California State University, Chico.