February 28, 2003

Tips on Checking out a Web Site's Creditability

Peter Greaney , MD
Board-Certified Occupational Physician
President, WorkCare

We live in a "Need-To-Have-It-Yesterday" World, so access to credible and reliable information is a must.  The Internet has helped answer that need for many health and safety managers who use the resources of the World Wide Web to facilitate information gathering and support job functions. In September 2001, more than 61 percent of U.S. workers employed in managerial and professional specialty occupations used the Internet at work [1] . Many Occupational, Safety and Health (OSH) professionals tap into the Internet's boundless array of information to research issues, access best practice models, keep current on OSHA regulations or find new jobs.

According to an Osh.Net user survey, OSH professionals said that their favorite web sites were government sources, such as NIOSH, OSHA, CDC, DOL and EPA. But the information needs of the OSH community often fall outside these government sources-in the vast cyberspace universe where just about anyone can build a home page, and claim they are an expert on any given subject. As a largely unregulated communication network, there are no quality standards for on-line content.  This has resulted in a proliferation of fraudulent web sites that provide a platform for quacks, such as the cancer healer. [2] However, the alternative of screening web content is not feasible, as pointed out by The Journal of Medical Internet Research:  "A single or centralized review process, institution, or agency to ensure quality is neither desirable or realistic, since the Internet is a decentralized, global medium. [3] " 

The public's skepticism over the reliability and accuracy of information on the Internet is further demonstrated in a UCLA study.  This report shows that more than one-third of Internet users believe that only about half of the information on the Internet is reliable and accurate [4] . This statistic reflects a continuing decline in users' confidence about the reliability and accuracy of information on the Internet.

Professional, slick looking health and safety web sites are just that:  nice-looking sites-and not a true indicator as to the quality, reliability and credibility of online information.  This article provides guidelines and resources on how to evaluate the authenticity, accuracy and creditability of web-based information.

Filtering Guidelines

There are a variety of electronic tools that enable you to electronically evaluate a site's content.  Perhaps the most effective tool, though, is your own analysis of the site.  You can be the best judge of determining how valuable and reliable a site is by assessing its authors, sponsorship disclosure, content, publication date, source of data, and web structure. 

Following are filtering guidelines that can be used to help you filter out credible information from less trustworthy information.

Authors and Attribution

• Is the author identified? 
• Are credentials given?
• What are the author's qualifications?
• How relevant is the author's experience/expertise to the topic?
• Is contact information provided?

Representation and Disclosures of Endorsements or Advertisements

• Who does the site represent?
• Are the publishers of the site clearly named?
• Are the publishers considered a reputable source of information?
• Is the site officially or unofficially endorsed by a particular organization?
• Are advertisements and sponsorships clearly differentiated from editorial copy?
• Do sponsors have control over editorial content?

Content and Date of Information

• Is the information used to promote a product or service?
• Is the information one-sided?
• How relevant is the information to your needs?
• Is the information biased?
• Is the site current?
• Does the information cite a date of initial creation?
• Is the information, error free, grammatically correct and well written?
• Does the information clearly distinguish fact from opinion?
• Does the web site have a broad base of information from credible sources?
• Does the information provide external links to additional, independent sources?

Source of information

• Are there independent references and sources cited?
• Are references sources reputable?
• Does the information refer to print and other non-Internet sources?
• Is the information error free?

Essential Web Site Elements

• Does the web site post its privacy policy?
• Does the privacy policy provide clear language as to how the web site uses, shares or discloses user information?
• Does the site clearly post its mission and goals?
• Does the web site charge a fee for information, and, if so, can that information be obtained from other sources that don't require payment?
• Is the web site well organized and easy to navigate?
• Does the web site have a search engine?
• Do search results yield paid advertisements, and if so, are these advertisements clearly identified as such?

• Are links working and current?
• How often is the site updated?

The Seal of Approval:  An Effort at Self Regulation

There are numerous organizations and companies, many which are non-profit entities, that have encouraged industry self regulation by establishing benchmark standards of quality for web design and content.  These organizations provide a rating or accreditation system designed to hold web publishers to a code of ethics, honorable privacy practices or high standards of security, creditability and reliability.  The organizations encourage web publishers to become certified through their quality accreditation process.

If a web site meets their criteria for quality and privacy practices, it is awarded a symbol or logo that can be displayed on the applicant's home page.  The logo is used to show web visitors that the site adheres to responsible web practices.  

Although these organizations are seen as a positive development in the industry's effort to self regulate for quality control and privacy purposes, the absence of a logo, does not mean the site is of poor quality [5] .

Beyond Web Surfing

According to Internet sources that promote the wise use of web-based information (see links below), a good rule of thumb is to allocate enough time to perform a web search.  A search engine can yield hundreds of thousands of link results for any given topic.  The search results are generally listed and ranked in order of most relevant.  It's a good practice to search beyond the top ranked links.  Web developers and promoters can affect how a web site is ranked in the search engine through savvy marketing techniques.  The top web sites a search engine produces does not necessarily mean they are the most valid.   You can also revise your keywords in order to get a more comprehensive, diverse list of link sources.

The following resources provide you additional tools and information to help you determine a web site's creditability, relevance and reliability.

Government Sources

Article and Other Resources

Consumer Web Watch Guidelines By Consumer Web Watch

Web Accreditation or Self Regulation Sites

Electronic Evaluation Tool

Internet Surveys and Polles

References

[1] .S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Computer and Internet Use at Work in 2001 Summary.   Washington , DC . http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ciuaw.t02.htm

[2] Gunther   Eysenbach ; Thomas L  Diepgen .  BMJ 1998 ;317:1496 -1502 ( 28 November )
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7171/1496

[3] Eysenbach G. Towards ethical guidelines for e-health: JMIR Theme Issue on eHealth Ethics .
Journal of   Medical Internet Research 2000;2(1):e7

[4] The UCLA Internet Report: Surveying the Digital Future, January 2003
http://ccp.ucla.edu/pdf/UCLA-Internet-Report-Year-Three.pd

[5] Charlene Laino . Health sites granted seal of approval: First program
of its Kind. MSNBC News.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/671677.asp?cp1=1