Before we look at some of the criteria that you can use to evaluate your information sources, the activity below allows you to test your current judgment by giving you the opportunity to rank three different sources on their academic quality
For the purpose of this activity, the topic being researched is:
The discovery of Richard III's burial.
Researching a topic such as this would require an extensive search for any relevant literature that already exists on the subject.
The academic quality of information available online can vary significantly. Searching for information on the above research topic brings up a wide range of search results, including the three articles below:
Source 1: A University of Leicester webpage about finding the skeleton of Richard III
Source 2: A news article on the protected status given to the location of Richard III's burial site
Source 3: A research report published in the journal Antiquity, setting out the argument that that the burial at Grey Frairs Church, Leicester, belongs to Richard III (Click on Save PDF, then View PDF to open)
Take a look at each of these articles, then complete the activity in the next box, where you can rank each article by its academic quality.
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