The 5 w's (who, what, where, when, and why) are the questions that journalists use to quickly gather the facts to understand a complete story.
Use these same questions to get the whole story on your sources- if you are unsure about the answers to these questions when applied to your sources, then you should consider searching again.
| Who? | What? | Where? | When? | Why? |
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Who created the information? -Do they have the education, experience, expertise to write about this topic effectively? Whom was this information created for- children, general audiences, scholars, professionals in the field, etc? -Is this an appropriate level for the your research? |
What is the content of the information? -Are the conclusions of the author supported by evidence in the form of citations, footnotes, a bibliography or other references? What do other authors say about the same topic?
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Where is the information published or available? -Does the publisher have any political or financial affiliations that may impact the way authors report their research? -Where does the money for research originate? |
When was the information created? -Have any significant events occurred that impact the conclusions of the information? -Were new studies conducted on the same topic since this information was published, how do the conclusions compare? For web content: when was the information last updated? |
Why was the information created? -Is the purpose of the information to inform, entertain, convince, or sell something to the reader? -Do the authors appear to have any biases or other motivations for creating the information? |
