Critically Evaluating Sources
21 Vertical Reading
Vertical Reading
What is Vertical Reading?
Vertical reading is an in-depth evaluation of the source itself, where the reader examines characteristics, reliability, and need for the information given in the single article.
RADAR
RADAR is a type of vertical evaluation method to help determine whether sources are appropriate for your research.
RELEVANCE: information sources are relevant if they help answer your research question, are related to your topic, and either from your discipline or one related to your research
AUTHORITY: information sources are written or created by an authority of some type, which means it should provide the name of the author/creator/publisher, the creator is educated and works within the field, have a bibliography or reference list that contains relevant and authoritative sources, and the creator has a history of providing credible and reliable information in the field
DATE: information sources can be developed across a range of time, so consider if the source is up-to-date or new (and whether this is vital), was seminal in the field, or if it can be used to establish historical context in your research
APPEARANCE: information sources, especially academic or scholarly ones, can be appear in a variety of ways, such as having little to no advertising, written with an abstract or bibliography, or located within peer-reviewed, academic journals or books
REASON: information sources are created for appropriate reasons such as to educate by distributing scholarly information, and to not entertain or sell something to the reader
CRAAP Test or the Modified CRAAP Test
The CRAAP test is another method to help you critically evaluate your information sources.
CURRENCY: the timeliness for the information, is it up to date?
RELEVANCE: the importance of this information for your research needs, does it fill in the gaps you are examining for your topic?
AUTHORITY: the source of the information, who is or are the authorities of knowledge on the subject?
ACCURACY: the reliability of the information, is this source verifiable and can match both other source claims and your understanding of the topic?
PURPOSE: the reason this information exists, what is the objective it is trying to achieve, and what perspectives or biases you may find in its approach?
There are new methodologies in place for the CRAAP test that promote new and critical ways of thinking about marginalized information, which you can find in the Appendix in this article here!
