The CRAAP test, which stands for Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose, is a list of criteria/questions that you should keep in mind as you evaluate a book, article or website.
Use this handout (from California State University - Chico) to help you determine if a source provides good information... or not.
by Naomi Lederer (originally found https://libguides.colostate.edu/howtodo/scholarlyvspopular)
The following is a list of General Criteria that can be used to distinguish between popular magazines, trade magazines, and scholarly journals. Some journals do not meet all the criteria in one category. For example, Scientific American, which has glossy pages and color pictures, contains both scholarly articles as well as those geared to a more general audience. Accountability and content of the specific article are the key criteria used to determine if an article is scholarly
| CRITERIA | POPULAR MAGAZINES | TRADE MAGAZINES | SCHOLARLY JOURNALS |
| Appearance | eye-catching cover
glossy paper pictures and illustrations in color each issue starts with page 1 |
cover depicts industrial setting
glossy paper pictures and illustrations in color each issue starts with page 1 |
plain cover
plain paper black/white graphics and illustrations pages consecutive throughout each volume |
| Audience |
nonprofessionals | members of a specific business, industry or organization | researchers and professionals |
|
Content
|
personalities, news, and general interest articles
articles written by staff, may be unsigned |
industry trends, new products or techniques, and organizational news
articles written by staff or contributing authors |
research projects, methodology, and theory
articles written by contributing authors |
| Accountability | editorial review
no bibliographies |
editorial review
may have short bibliographies |
peer review/refereed
has bibliographies |
| Advertisements | heavy | moderate
all or most are trade related |
few or none |
| Examples |
Gourmet New York Psychology Today |
Chilton's Food Engineering Public Management APA Monitor Advertising Age |
Journal of Food Science Urban Studies Journal of Applied Psychology Journal of Extension |
"Peer review" refers to the policy of having experts in the field examine journal articles before acceptance for publication. Peer review insures that the research described in a journal's articles is sound and of high quality. Sometimes the term "refereed" is used instead of peer review. Ulrichsweb, one of our databases, lists journals and marks journals that are peer-reviewed. For unlisted journals, examine the editorial policy, instructions to authors, and/or the editorial board list of members to determine if the editorial boards and/or consultants are experts in the field.
No matter what type of journal an article comes from, be sure to evaluate it.
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