<h2>What is CRAAP?</h2>
<p>The CRAAP Test is an evaluation method that helps evaluate your sources. By applying this method, you can decide whether a source should be used or not. It was designed by the Meriam Library of California State University, Chico.</p>
<p>CRAAP is an acronym that stands for Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy and Purpose. CRAAP states a set of questions in these 5 categories. By answering these questions, you can evaluate the information in the articles you read.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Currency</strong>: The timeliness of the information.</li>
<li><strong>Relevance</strong>: The importance of the information for your needs.</li>
<li><strong>Authority</strong>: The source of the information.</li>
<li><strong>Accuracy</strong>: The reliability, truthfulness and correctness of the content.</li>
<li><strong>Purpose</strong>: The reason the information exists.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Category questions</h2>
<p>Pretty much all CRAAP score cards use a different set of questions to score the 5 categories. To make the results more detailed and fine-grained, we chose some of the most common and created a longer set of questions.</p>
<h3>Currency</h3>
<p>The timeliness of the information.</p>
<ul>
<li>When was the information created, published or posted?</li>
<li>Has the information been revised or updated? If so, when?</li>
<li>Is the information current or out-of-date for your topic?</li>
<li>Are the links functional?</li>
</ul>
<h3>Relevance</h3>
<p>The importance of the information for your needs.</p>
<ul>
<li>Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question?</li>
<li>Who is the intended audience?</li>
<li>Is the information at an appropriate level (e.g. not too elementary or advanced for your needs)?</li>
<li>Have you looked at a variety of sources before determining this is one you will use?</li>
<li>Does it seem credible?</li>
<li>Would you be comfortable using this source for a research paper?</li>
</ul>
<h3>Authority</h3>
<p>The source of the information.</p>
<ul>
<li>Who is the creator and/or author and/or publisher and/or source and/or sponsor?</li>
<li>Are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations given?</li>
<li>What are the author's qualifications to write on the topic?</li>
<li>Is there contact information, such as a publisher or e-mail address?</li>
<li>Does the URL reveal anything about the author or source?</li>
</ul>
<h3>Accuracy</h3>
<p>The reliability, truthfulness and correctness of the content.</p>
<ul>
<li>Does it have references?</li>
<li>Is the information supported by evidence?</li>
<li>Has the information been reviewed or refereed?</li>
<li>Can you verify any of the information in another source or from personal knowledge?</li>
<li>Does the language or tone seem objective and free of emotion?</li>
<li>Are there spelling, grammar, or other typographical errors?</li>
</ul>
<h3>Purpose</h3>
<p>The reason the information exists.</p>
<ul>
<li>What is the purpose of the information (e.g. to inform, teach, sell, entertain, persuade etc.)?</li>
<li>Do the authors and/or sponsors make their intentions or purpose clear?</li>
<li>Is the information fact, opinion and/or propaganda?</li>
<li>Is it objective or biased?</li>
<li>Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional or personal biases?</li>
</ul>
<h3>Evaluation</h3>
<p>After answering all of these questions, score each category on a scale from 1 to 10 (1 = unreliable, 10 = excellent). Then sum up the scores and determine the quality based on the following scoring:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>45-50</strong>: Excellent</li>
<li><strong>40-44</strong>: Good</li>
<li><strong>35-39</strong>: Average</li>
<li><strong>30-34</strong>: Borderline Acceptable</li>
<li><strong>Below 30</strong>: Unacceptable</li>
</ul>
<h2>How do we use CRAAP?</h2>
<p>At Sourcer, we use the CRAAP test to determine the completeness and the quality of an article. We automatically calculate the results for you, so you can easily verify your sources. But how are we doing this?</p>
<p>Since recent, we use all 5 categories of CRAAP, with Purpose still in beta version. Based on the information we extract from an article, we answer the set of questions, just like the manual method. Below you can find an explanation of how all questions are answered using our process of evaluation.</p>
<h3>Currency</h3>
<p>First, we check whether an article should be current or not. If articles within the same topic have appeared recently, we assume that an article must be current. If so, the more recent an article, the better it will score.</p>
<p>We also check if an article contains the publish date, and it will receive a higher score than one without it.</p>
<p>Lastly, we check whether the sources and links in the article are functional. If so, the article will score higher too.</p>
<h3>Relevance</h3>
<p>To determine the relevance of the artricle, first we have to check whether there are other related articles in our database. If so, it means, that more information can be collected about the topic.</p>
<p>Then, we check the only subjective aspect of CRAAP. The more articles a reader has read in the topic, the more relevant it is for them. This is important, since it can help determining if the article suits the reader's interest.</p>
<p>Lastly, we check the reading difficulty of the article, by calculating the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flesch%E2%80%93Kincaid_readability_tests#Flesch_reading_ease">Flesch Reading Ease</a>. The more standard the reading difficulty of an article is, the better it will score. Thus, articles that are either too difficult or too easy to read will also score lower.</p>
<h3>Authority</h3>
<p>When evaluating the authority of the article, we take a deeper look at the authors. Articles where both the publisher and author are available will score higher.</p>
<p>Then, we check the available information about the author(s). We take a look into whether the authors are related to the topic they are writing about. If the information is available and the authors are relevant, the article will score higher.</p>
<p>Lastly, we check the URL of the article. Articles with knowingly shady/spammy URLs will score lower.</p>
<h3>Accuracy</h3>
<p>For the accuracy of the article, we investigate the sources used by the authors. Articles without any sources will not score well in this category. If an article uses enough of both internal (from the same website) and external (from other websites) sources, they will score higher. Furhermore, if many of the sources are recognized as articles too, this results in a higher score. Lastly, if the article contains too many grammar mistakes, it will score lower as well.</p>
<h3>Purpose</h3>
<p>As mentioned before, this category is still in Beta as we are testing the accuracy of it. In this category we are determining the purpose of the article. Was the author's intention to inform, entertain or sell to the reader? Informing will score the highest, entertaining scores less, while selling is not worth any points. To determine this, we use some machine learning algorithms, that we will introduce in a later blog post.</p>
<p>We also check the polarity of the article. The more natural the article is, the better it will score. Articles that are too positive or negative will not score any points. Then, we also check the objectivity of the article. If an article is purely subjective, it will not get any points, however, objective articles will score high. To determine polarity and subjectivity, we use a lexicon-based model - we check if certain objective-subjective or positive-negative words appear in the text, and score the results based on that. On this concept we will provide more information later in another blog post.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>As discussed above, we use the 5 categories of the CRAAP evaluation to show you the completeness and quality of any articles. This score is useful for you, the reader, as it is transparent and objective in how it interprets and answers the questions that help build towards a final score judging the completeness and credibility of an article. The value of our CRAAP score comes in the automating of finding the results, and the usability comes from the verifiability of the results. You become aware faster of the aspects of an article to pay attention to, making you a more critical reader. And if you disagree with the results, then you can determine the CRAAP score yourself too and find out whether you can trust an article yourself easily.</p>
<h2>Sources</h2>
<p><a href="https://library.csuchico.edu/sites/default/files/craap-test.pdf">CRAAP Test - California State University, Chico</a></p>
<p><a href="https://libguides.ppcc.edu/c.php?g=16624&#x26;p=3509587">CRAAP Score Card - Pikes Peek Community College Library</a></p>
<p><a href="https://guides.beloit.edu/c.php?g=963114&#x26;p=6961321">CRAAP Test - Beloit College</a></p>
<p><a href="https://researchguides.ben.edu/source-evaluation">Evaluating Sources: The CRAAP Test - Benedictine University Library</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.spamhaus.org/statistics/tlds/">Spammy URLs 1</a>, <a href="http://www.surbl.org/tld">Spammy URLs 2</a>, <a href="https://symantec-enterprise-blogs.security.com/blogs/feature-stories/top-20-shady-top-level-domains">Shady URLs</a></p>
<h2>Disclaimer</h2>
<p>Sourcer assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions in the content of this article. The information contained in this article is provided on an "as is" basis with no complete guarantees of completeness, accuracy, usefulness or timeliness.</p>


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