Credibility

Credibility refers to the believability and reliability of information received from outside sources. When assessing the credibility of a source it is necessary to evaluate the trustworthiness and expertise of the person or persons providing this information. For example, scientific information that is gleaned from a reputable journal has a higher credibility level than information found on the internet because authors who are published in a journal are known to be experts in their subjects by their academic peers while anyone can go on the internet and present information with little or no scientific support.