The CRAP method - fleshed out.

1. Resource
Assessment

2. The CRAP Method

3. ○ Currency
○ Reliability
○ Authority
○ Perspective

4. Currency: When Was It Published?
● Think about the context of your
research:
○ Sciences: generally newer is better (last
TEN years only)
○ Humanities: newness not paramount, but
when a work was published tells you a lot
about its context

5. Reliability: Can I Trust It?
● Is it formatted appropriately?
○ All sources cited or credited
○ No glaring spelling or grammar errors
● Are the author’s sources also trustworthy?
● Does it align at least nominally with work
that exists already and/or common sense?
● Is its main claim sensational or “too good to
be true”?

6. Authority: Who Created It?
● Do they know what they’re talking about?
● For scholarly work, check for author’s:
○ Credentials
○ Institute affiliations
○ Prior publications in the area
● Was this work put out by a respected
journal or book publisher?
● Is it peer reviewed?

7. Perspective: What’s the Author’s Angle?
● Are they striving for objectivity or only
presenting their personal opinion?
● Is the author clearly biased in one direction
or another?
● Who is paying them for this work? Are
there conflicts of interest that aren’t
apparent in the work itself?