Reading and note-taking

Critical reading means reading to understand and evaluate the information. It is an important step when choosing sources for your assignment. You need to make sure you use strong, reliable evidence, and this starts with selecting high-quality sources.

In brief, critical reading involves:

  • Evaluating the source. You can use the CRAAP method for this, which provides you with questions so you can look at the article more closely, and decide whether you should use it or not.
  • Use lateral reading. This is especially important if something in the source seems surprising or does not match the rest of your research.

Evaluating sources

CRAAP stands for currency, relevancy, authority, accuracy and purpose. It is a method you can use to evaluate sources you are planning to use for your assessment. CRAAP provides you with questions you can ask, so you can make sure you use good quality and relevant sources.

  • When was the information published or last updated?
  • Is it recent enough for your needs, or is it outdated?
  • Does your Unit Outline say how recent the research for your assessment should be?
  • What was happening when the work was created? Were there local or global events that might have influenced the author’s point of view (e.g., COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, regional/global instability)?

Tip: If you cannot find a publication date or you are unsure if statistics or case studies are current, do a quick Google search to find other sources that confirm this information.

Example

You are writing about mental health impacts of COVID-19. You find an article published in 2018. The date shows it was written before the pandemic, so it may not include COVID-related data. You need to decided if that is a problem for your assessment, and if it is, search for newer studies from 2021 onwards to make sure your evidence is current.

  • Does the information relate to your topic?
  • Is it suitable for your assessment?

Tip: Read the abstract or introduction to confirm the source matches your topic and level.

Example

You are researching the causes of World War I. You find a blog post aimed at general readers. The language is simple and lacks references, so it is not academic. Your Unit Outline specifically states that you are meant to use only academic sources for your assessment, so you look for a journal article or a university-level textbook instead.

  • Who wrote the information and who published it? Can you confirm their credentials?
  • Does the information fall within their area of expertise?
  • Where was it published? For example, an article on wellbeing in a psychology journal will be different from one in a marketing journal.

Tips:

  • Look up the author or organisation on LinkedIn, ResearchGate, or Twitter (X) to confirm their credentials and interest in the topic.
  • A Google search may show interviews, blogs, affiliations, research grants, or controversies. This helps you check credibility, and work out why the author has written the text.

Example

You find an article about leadership strategies published in a marketing magazine. The author is a marketing consultant, not a leadership researcher. You decide to use a source from a management journal written by an academic expert instead.

  • Are the views, opinions, or theories supported by valid research (evidence, facts, or citations)?
  • Can you verify the information in other sources? (See lateral reading below.)
  • Is the language objective, or is it biased?
  • Confirm any key statistics or surprising information, using lateral reading techniques.

Tip: Do a Google search to confirm specific information. Has the research been cited in other studies? Have the statistics appeared in news or organisational reports? If they have, do other sources agree or dispute the information?

Example

You find an article claiming that “renewable energy now provides 30% of global electricity.” To check this, you search Google for “percentage of global electricity from renewable energy.” You find reports from the International Energy Agency and the World Bank confirming that the figure is close to 30%. This shows the original claim is accurate and the source is trustworthy.

  • Is the information meant to inform, teach, persuade, entertain, or sell?
  • Is the point of view objective, or is it biased? If it only gives one side or uses emotional language, it may be trying to persuade or manipulate.
  • Is it fact, opinion, or propaganda?

Tip: Look for signs of bias, such as emotional language or lack of evidence. Check if the source is from a company trying to sell a product or an organisation promoting a cause.

Example

You find an article about renewable energy on a solar panel company’s website. The article promotes solar panels and ignores other renewable options. You decide to use a peer-reviewed journal article instead, as it provides a balanced view.

Lateral reading

When you evaluate a source using the CRAAP method, you can use a technique called lateral reading. This means checking the author’s claims and conclusions by looking for confirmation from other sources. To do this, you search for facts, arguments, or background information from the original source using a search engine like Google. If other reliable sources confirm the information, you can be more confident that it is trustworthy. Websites like Wikipedia, credible news organisations, and reports from trusted organisations can be helpful when doing lateral reading.

Some examples for credible organisations:

Watch the video below to learn more about how lateral reading can help you evaluate information.