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This was published when the organisation was the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Points to consider when evaluating online information.

Unlike information in peer-reviewed journals or academic texts, information on the web is not checked for its accuracy, so it’s important to critically assess information you find there.

Content

• Information should be balanced and presented in a logical way and at an appropriate level. Avoid sites using emotive language.
• Look for confirmation that information is accurate – such as references to data and findings.
• Look for evidence of peer/editorial review – not always available, although some sites have an editorial board which reviews content.
• Look for editorial policy – often found in the ‘about us’ section of the site.
• Verify information against other sources – such as content in current journals, reports, published statistics (etc.).
• Is the information free of grammatical/spelling mistakes?

Authority

• Who has produced the content? Is it an academic institution, a government site, a professional organisation?
• Is it easy to find out who is responsible? Is there an ‘about us’ section?
• Has the website been produced by a reputable organisation?
• If the information has been produced by an individual, is the author recognised in his/her field? – Look up the author’s name in a database like PubMed to see what papers he/she has written; or enter the name of the author in a search engine; or check biographical sources. Check the author’s qualifications.
• Can you contact the author/organisation? – Contact information, such as email address, should be easily available to the reader. Look at the domain for clues: .gov means a government body, .ac/.edu means educational, .org means non-profit organisations/professional associations are .com/.co.

Information currency

• How up-to-date is the information? Content can give an indication of currency (e.g., ‘According to the 2023 study, …’).
• When was the website last updated?
• Check copyright dates – check the bottom of webpages for copyright information.
• Check information included on the website against other current work in the field.

Purpose

Who is the intended audience? Is it produced for scholarly use or for the general public?

References

• Are cited sources clearly listed?
• Are references from reputable sources?
• Site organisation.
• Is the site easy to navigate?
• Is information provided as to how resources that the site links to are selected?

Reference list:

• Abate MA, Blommel ML, 2013 – Drug Information and Literature Evaluation – Remington Education – Pharmaceutical Press.
• Craan, F, Oleske, DM, 2002 – Medical Information and the Internet: Do You Know What You Are Getting? – Journal of Medical Systems.