How do you judge credible sources?
A source is credible when you can name the author and check their expertise, the publisher behind it, the date, the evidence it offers, and its purpose. A source written to inform is a different case from one written to sell or persuade. An address ending in .gov or .edu is a signal, not a proof.
Credible sources in plain words
A source is anything you point at as proof: a page, an article, a post, a report. Credibility is not a feeling about how sure something sounds. It is five questions, and they work for print and for digital.
- Author and expertise. Who wrote it, and what do they know about the subject? A researcher who ran the study knows the subject; a passerby does not.
- Publisher. Who put it out, and who answers for it? A university press, a journal, a school district or a state agency answers for its pages; an anonymous one answers for nothing.
- Date. When was it written, and when was it last checked? Facts change, and an old page is not repaired by being online.
- Evidence and citations. Does it show its work? Look for named studies, data or sources you could go read.
- Purpose. Is it there to inform you or to sell you something? An advertisement, a supplement pitch and a tabloid headline all want action.
An address ending in .gov or .edu tells you a government office or an educational institution stands behind the page. It settles nothing else: an old page there is still an old page, and a student blog can live on a school address. The address is a signal, not a proof.
On one side sit journal articles and pages on .edu and .gov sites. On the other sit social media posts, personal blogs and tabloids.
An AI chatbot gets its own step. Ask it a question, then open a credible source on the same one and see whether it agrees, because a chatbot does not show you the evidence.
ETS lists telling credible sources from noncredible print and digital sources among the topics for the Reading & Writing subtest (5758).
Why a paraeducator uses this in class
You often read a draft report before anyone else, and that is where a tabloid fact or an advertisement slips in. Both arrive dressed as facts. The five questions keep working when a list of approved sites goes out of date.
Worked example
Rosa is writing a report on how much sleep teenagers need. She collects three sources and puts the same five questions to each: who wrote it, who published it, when, what it rests on, and why it exists.
- Source one is a page from a state health department site. It meets four of the five: a public office publishes it, the page is dated, it lists the studies behind it, and its purpose is to inform families. Only the author goes unnamed.
- Source two is a social media post claiming a supplement cures an illness. It went out with no author named, no date on it and no study behind the claim, nothing links back to whoever is behind it, and its purpose is to get clicks or to sell, so it meets none of the five.
- Source three is a blog post recommending that supplement, written by a shop that sells it. It meets two of the five: who wrote it and who publishes it.
One of the three is worth building on: the health department page answers four of the five questions, and the author left unnamed is the only gap.
Practice questions
Question 1: picking a source
Nia is writing a report on teen sleep. Which of these four sources should she use?
- A. A tabloid headline, no author, no date.
- B. A social media post, no study linked.
- C. A journal article by two named researchers, with a date, listing its sources.
- D. A blog post recommending a product its writer sells.
Show the answer
C, the journal article.
C is the only option with named authors, a date and listed sources. A names no author and no date, B links no study, and D is written to sell a product.
Question 2: what a .gov address settles
Devon cites a .gov page. Name two things to look for on the page before you trust its advice, and say why the address alone does not settle it.
Show the answer
A recent date, so the advice is current, and the studies or data it comes from.
The address tells you a public office published the page, not that anyone checked the advice, so a page there can still be out of date.
Question 3: checking a chatbot
Mateo wants to check a fact an AI chatbot gave him. What is the best first move?
Show the answer
Open a credible source on the same question and see whether it agrees.
A chatbot hands you an answer and not the evidence, so the only way to know is to find the source and read it.
Continue learning
- Paragraph development: where the supporting evidence goes.
- Grammar and usage: the rules a report must hold to.
- Editing and proofreading: where a weak source shows up.
Try it on a full practice test
Once the five questions feel routine, work through the free ParaPathways practice test.
Our study book covers every skill on both subtests, in English and Spanish.
Sources
Every exam fact on this page comes from the public documents below. Open one to read the source itself.
Last checked against these sources: . See every fact with the exact quote it rests on.