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Accuracy

If an article is accurate its facts can usually be verified. Determining the accuracy of the article is especially important if you're unsure about the author or publication. Let's imagine, for example, that you found an article that claims that more people bike to work than drive to work in Baltimore City. Before you blindly trust the information from the author, you'll want to verify that information with another source. Perhaps you'll find another article or website that verifies those facts. If you don't, you'll want to be skeptical of the rest of the information in that article.

To determine the accuracy of an article, you may ask yourself some of the following questions:

• Are there citations listed in the article? If so, those citations should tell you where the author found their information and you can use those sources to verify the information.
• Do the authors explain how they gathered their information?
• Do the authors point to reputable, recognizable sources for information?
• Can you find any of the information from the article repeated in a source you know to be credible?