Evaluating Research SourcesFive checks before a source goes into a bibliography.9th GradeNot every source deserves your trust, and not every trustworthy source suitsyour question.1AUTHORITYWho wrote it, and what qualifies them?2ACCURACYIs it evidenced? Can the claims be checked elsewhere?3OBJECTIVITYWho benefits from you believing this?4CURRENCYHow old is it? In science, five years can be too old.5RELEVANCEDoes it actually address your question?A biased source can still be useful — as evidence of that bias. Just beexplicit about how you are using it.Evaluating Research Sourceslearnposters.com
Evaluating Research Sources — printable literacy wall chart from LearnPosters. Free vector PDF, US Letter and A4.

Evaluating Research Sources, step by step

Not every source deserves your trust, and not every trustworthy source suits your question.

  1. AUTHORITYWho wrote it, and what qualifies them?
  2. ACCURACYIs it evidenced? Can the claims be checked elsewhere?
  3. OBJECTIVITYWho benefits from you believing this?
  4. CURRENCYHow old is it? In science, five years can be too old.
  5. RELEVANCEDoes it actually address your question?

A biased source can still be useful — as evidence of that bias. Just be explicit about how you are using it.

Questions about the Evaluating Research Sources poster

What’s on the Evaluating Research Sources poster?
5 numbered steps. Not every source deserves your trust, and not every trustworthy source suits your question. AUTHORITY — Who wrote it, and what qualifies them?; ACCURACY — Is it evidenced? Can the claims be checked elsewhere?; OBJECTIVITY — Who benefits from you believing this?; CURRENCY — How old is it? In science, five years can be too old.; RELEVANCE — Does it actually address your question?. A biased source can still be useful — as evidence of that bias. Just be explicit about how you are using it.
Who is the Evaluating Research Sources poster for?
Evaluating Research Sources is filed under 9th Grade (ages 14–15), so it matches what that year asks a child to remember. It is equally useful to an older student revisiting literacy, and to the parent or teacher answering the question at the kitchen table.
When should you use the Evaluating Research Sources poster?
Run all five. A source that fails two is not worth citing. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Evaluating Research Sources belongs on the wall where that literacy work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
What other posters go with Evaluating Research Sources?
Characterisation, Close Reading and Literary Terms sit alongside Evaluating Research Sources in the 9th Grade set. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.CharacterisationClose ReadingLiterary Terms
Is the Evaluating Research Sources poster free to download and print?
Yes. Evaluating Research Sources downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the 9th Grade set. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
What size does the Evaluating Research Sources poster print at?
Evaluating Research Sources is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Evaluating Research Sources loses nothing.Printing guide

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