A source can be real and still be unsuitable.
One of the most common research mistakes is treating every source as equally useful. A webpage may exist, an article may look professional and a document may contain the right keywords, but none of that automatically makes it strong evidence.
The right source depends on the claim you are checking and what you plan to do with the information.
Do not ask only, “Is this source credible?” Also ask, “Is this source strong enough for this specific claim and decision?”
Evaluate the source before relying on the information.
Authority
Who created the information? Check the organisation, author, publisher or institution behind the source and whether they are qualified to speak on the topic.
Relevance
A trustworthy source can still be the wrong source for your question. Check whether it directly addresses the specific issue, location, industry, date or decision you are researching.
Currency
Some information changes quickly. Check when the source was published or updated and whether newer guidance, data, prices, regulations or policies may now apply.
Evidence
Strong sources usually show where their claims come from through data, documents, references, methodology, records or other verifiable evidence.
Purpose
Understand why the content exists. A source designed to inform may need different scrutiny from one designed to sell, persuade, promote or attract attention.
Consistency
Compare important claims with other reliable evidence, especially when one source makes an unusual, high-impact or surprising statement.
A source may be authoritative but outdated, current but irrelevant, or detailed but unsupported. Evaluate several dimensions together.
Different sources serve different research purposes.
Original evidence
Policies, contracts, government publications, official statistics, transaction records, research papers, company filings and direct documentation.
Usually the strongest place to verify a specific factual claim when the original material is available.
Analysis or interpretation
Professional publications, reputable news reporting, industry analysis, textbooks and expert commentary.
Useful for explanation, comparison and context, especially when the source clearly identifies its underlying evidence.
Useful for finding leads
Blogs, forums, social posts, community discussions, videos and general web articles.
Can help identify terminology, questions, experiences or possible sources, but important claims should normally be checked elsewhere.
Original sources can still contain errors, limitations or bias. Their advantage is that you are closer to the evidence and can inspect it directly.
Weak sources often reveal themselves through predictable signals.
Search ranking, social engagement, shares and repeated mentions do not prove that a source is accurate.
Compare sources using evidence quality, not appearance.
Unnamed blog author
Official government department
Claims with no supporting documents
Published data and methodology
Old article on a changing regulation
Current official guidance
Sales page presenting promotional claims
Independent technical documentation
Repeats statistics from another website
Links to the original dataset
Imagine you need to confirm a warehouse storage requirement.
“What storage temperature should be used for this product?”
Online discussion forum
A user says their warehouse normally stores the product at a particular temperature.
Supplier product specification
The current official specification identifies the required storage conditions for the exact product.
Use the supplier's current product specification as the primary evidence for the storage requirement. The forum discussion may still help identify operational questions, but it should not override the official specification.
Move from discovery toward stronger evidence.
Locate possible sources
Use search, AI or existing references to identify sources that may contain the information you need.
Remove obviously weak sources
Check authority, relevance, date, evidence and purpose before spending time reading deeply.
Move toward original evidence
Follow citations, links and references until you reach the strongest available source behind the claim.
Check important claims
Compare the source against other reliable evidence when the claim is important, disputed or high consequence.
Match the source to the decision
Decide whether the evidence is strong enough for drafting, research, recommendation or formal action.
Six questions before you trust a source
Establish authority and accountability.
Separate supported claims from assertions.
Check whether the information is still current.
Avoid using broadly related evidence for a specific claim.
Reduce dependence on repeated or distorted information.
Match verification effort to the consequence of error.
Use AI to discover sources, but evaluate the evidence yourself.
AI can make research faster by suggesting search directions, summarising documents and helping organise findings. But source quality still determines whether the final conclusion deserves confidence.
Locate possible sources.
Check source quality.
Reach original evidence.
Match evidence to decision.
Ask AI to separate sources from conclusions.
A useful research prompt can require AI to identify the claim, source, source type, publication date, supporting evidence and any uncertainty before presenting a conclusion.