In a time of Fake News, be Credible

Sourcing Credible Information

By Anj Handa

As a changemaker, you will need to be able to use and cite credible sources. I was recently part of a panel led by Emerald Publishing’s Research and Development team. They wished to gain a better understanding of people’s experiences of how academic content is sourced and used in the professional environment.

Emerald Publishing worked in partnership with Mustard Research to invite a select number of Emeralds’ customers and non-customers to take part in an exclusive online community project, with around thirty people taking part.

The community was live for a few weeks. During that time, several different discussions around particular themes were held. For example, we were asked for our views on academic content, the range of applicable uses, and how we both individually and as a company source content. The community offered the chance to speak to like-minded people in the industry about the things that matter to me.

What is a credible source?

The definition of a credible source can be varied. In general, it is a source that is unbiased and is backed up with evidence. Doing upfront research as you prepare your blog, talk or paper is important as any irregularities that are uncovered later can undermine the case that you are presenting.

I  use models and techniques developed and tested by academics when designing my changemaker and organisational development programmes. They may look simple on the surface but there is a lot of rigour behind them. Powerful learning doesn’t have to be complicated.

In the professional world, there are many sources for you to find the information you need to support your messages. These include InfoTrac, LexisNexis, and Emerald Publishing.

What about Wikipedia?

Wikipedia is not a credible source (although it can be a useful starting point for your research and references. Wikipedia itself states:

Wikipedia is not a reliable source for citations elsewhere on Wikipedia, or as a source for copying or translating content. As a user-generated source, it can be edited by anyone at any time, and any information it contains at a particular time could be vandalism, a work in progress, or simply incorrect. Biographies of living persons, subjects that happen to be in the news, and politically or culturally contentious topics are especially vulnerable to these issues. Edits on Wikipedia that are in error may eventually be fixed. However, because Wikipedia is a volunteer-run project, it cannot constantly monitor every contribution. There are many errors that remain unnoticed for hours, days, weeks, months, or even years (see Wikipedia:List of hoaxes on Wikipedia). Additionally, it is possible that some errors may never be fixed. It is also possible for an edit correcting an error to later be reverted. Therefore, Wikipedia should not be considered a definitive source in and of itself. This includes articles, non-article pages, The Signpost, and non-English Wikipedias.

Stop accidentally spreading fake news on social media

Even on social media, using discernment about what you share is important for maintaining your credibility. Do a basic check before you share – sites such as Snopes.com can help if you’re unsure. Additionally, this resource by easybib.com gives some useful pointers on what to consider when evaluating information. Other clues that a post you might be about to share is fake include the use of red exclamation marks or hazard symbols, phrases such as “From a [insert profession]”, or calls to action such as “Please copy and paste”.

Let your call to action from this post be “I will check before I share”.