How to know if an article is credible

A credible source is one that is written by someone who is an expert in their discipline and is free of errors and bias. This guide explains the difference between credible, scholarly and peer-reviewed sources.

Articles from scholarly, peer-reviewed, academic, and refereed journals are more credible than articles from popular or trade journals (‘magazines’) because they have gone through the most rigorous review process. They also have the most references or citations.

In general, sources that you find at your university’s library are credible, be it books, scholarly journals, articles, music recordings or DVD’s. But be aware that your university’s library can also have popular media, which may not be a credible source of information.

Examples of Unreliable Sources:

Websites and blogs with news that is based on opinion (Medium, Natural News). These websites have articles that are written by ordinary people. While they that they are not meant to replace medical advice, they look otherwise identical to reliable sources.

Check the domain name

Look at the three letters at the end of the site’s domain name, such as “edu” (educational), “gov” (government), “org” (nonprofit), and “com” (commercial). Generally, . edu and . gov websites are credible, but beware of sites that use these suffixes in an attempt to mislead.

gov sites. Although the legitimate site for the Diversity Visa is www.dvlottery.state.gov, scammers build websites with addresses that use variations of “Green Card,” “Diversity Visa” or “USA lottery,” then cheat users through bogus “application fees,” which often exceed $100.

The domain extension . org is better for nonprofit websites, while .com is better for for-profit businesses selling a service or product. In terms of SEO value, which one you pick has little effect on SEO.

Anyone is allowed to register and use . org domain names. org is the home for millions of nonprofit websites, including charitable, artistic, scientific, personal, educational, social, cultural and religious sites. .

The domain name org is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) of the Domain Name System (DNS) used on the Internet. The name is truncated from organization. It was one of the original domains established in 1985, and has been operated by the Public Interest Registry since 2003.

Three of the most common TLDs, .com, . org and . net, are abbreviations for “commercial,” “organization” and “network” respectively, but common use has moved away from these definitions, with .com becoming the most popular TLD even for sites with no commercial activity.

org domains start at around $10 a year, though prices can fluctuate based on demand. There are about 10 million .

biz is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) in the Domain Name System of the Internet. It is intended for registration of domains to be used by businesses. The name is a phonetic spelling of the first syllable of business.

net is a top-level domain, also known as a TLD. Derived from the word network, it was originally developed for companies involved in networking technology.

Interjection. blz. (Internet slang, text messaging) Abbreviation of beleza (“all right!”).

in the German dictionary. Account number. Kontonummer. Click to see the original definition of «Kto. –Nr.» in the German dictionary.