URLs and Domains

Many factors go into helping you decide if website information is reliable -- the domain can help you decide, but it is only one measure and should be used as a part of the entire evaluation process.

.edu, .gov, .mil often contain the most reliable and unbiased info since the website domains for .gov and .mil have to be from government or military entities -- .edu domains are limited to post-secondary, accredited institutions.

.com, .org, .net and other newer domains, like .biz, .aero, etc... must be evaluated much closer for authority and reliability before using them for research purposes as all of these domains can be purchased. 

Authority

Look for the author's name, credentials and affiliation to give clues to the content's quality and objectivity. You should look for the same information quality from a web page as you would from a scholarly print or database source.

For pages authored by organizations, look for the site's "About Us" section. Is there contact information? A physical address where they are located?

Currency

When was the page created or last updated? Look beyond the page update information because this can easily be changed with page usage, rather than actual content update.

Is the date of the information current in relation to your research need?

Reliability & Bias

How reliable is the information provided?  Can you discern a particular bias for any of the information?  Is there an agenda that might be unspoken that shows up in the presentation or "one-sided aspect" of the information.

Accuracy

Trustworthy sites should not have obvious spelling, grammatical or factual errors. Are there links to verify the facts or statistics used?