What Determines Credibility
“credibility?”
Summary
Credibility varies with the reliability of the source; research shows that news articles with verified sources are statistically more credible, and corrections are effective only when the correcting source is trusted. Public trust in national news has fallen to about 56% of U.S. adults, indicating a general decline in perceived credibility. Consequently, assessing credibility requires careful evaluation of source trustworthiness.
Sources 60 searched
- Effectiveness of citizen journalism: evaluating the credibility, bias, and impact of user-generated news content in the digital age | Humanities and Social Sciences Communications
A significantly high F-value of 19.60 and a corresponding p-value of 0.000, below the traditional significance threshold of 0.05, are the results. This suggests that news articles with verified sources are statistically significantly more credible ...
- How to spot dubious claims in scientific papers | News | Nature Index
For instance, a 2015 study in the journal Issues in Law & Medicine used a line graph to demonstrate the link between the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism, a finding that has long been debunked.
- Don’t believe them! Reducing misinformation influence through source discreditation - PMC
Likewise, Wood et al. (2023) found that debunking COVID-19 misinformation reduced misperceptions (as long as the correction source was credible) but that directly discrediting sources of vaccine misinformation (i.e., anti-vaxxers) had no effect on participants’ misperceptions.
- Debunking Viral Claims Archives - FactCheck.org
A: No, there has been no such ad on Craigslist. Some social media posts cited a Craigslist ad to falsely claim it showed that people protesting the immigration raids in Los Angeles were being paid for their actions.
- Introduction - Evaluating claims you find on web sites - Research Guides at Pima Community College
This is not always easy to do. We usually need to trust the source of the claim. Knowing that a source is trustworthy (or credible) only comes from carefully evaluating the situation.
- A. The Claim - Evaluating claims you find on web sites - Research Guides at Pima Community College
Answer: You evaluate the source of the claim. If it is credible, then you can accept the claim as (probably) true.
- Claims - Evaluating Information - Highline College Library at Highline College
We shouldn't take someone's word that "research says" this or that — we should follow their research trail and verify it ourselves! Credible researchers tell where they got their information. Is there a bibliography, citations, or links to back up each claim or argument?
- Media Bias Charts - Misinformation and Media Literacy - Research Guides at Santa Fe Community College
MBFC rates news sources on two characteristics: Factual Reporting and Bias (Left/Right). Click · here to search · Should you trust media bias charts? [Poynter Institution] "These controversial charts claim to show the political lean and credibility of news organizations. Here’s what you need to know about them." << Previous: Cognitive Bias · Next: Classroom Activities >> Last Updated: Jan 27, 2026 1:56 PM ·
- How trust in info from news outlets and social media has changed over time | Pew Research Center
Overall, 56% of U.S. adults now say they have a lot of or some trust in the information they get from national news organizations – down 11 percentage points since March 2025.
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