AI as a Research Tool

AI for Evaluating Sources

AI can help you evaluate the credibility of sources you find on the web, but don't become overly reliant on AI responses. Look at the links and find reliable sources to verify the information yourself. 

The TRAAP Test for Evaluating Source Credibility 

Use the TRAAP test as a guide for making AI prompts to help you evaluate individual journals, media sources, authors, articles, and webpages. The TRAAP test is a set of questions that help you to determine if a resource is trustworthy and credible:

Sample Prompt for Evaluating a Journal Article Found on Google Scholar

Google Scholar includes a variety of academic sources, but it sometimes includes source that are not peer-reviewed. Here is a sample article:

DiNicolantonio, J. J., Lucan, S. C., & O’Keefe, J. H. (2016). The evidence for saturated fat and for sugar related to coronary heart disease. Progress in cardiovascular diseases, 58(5), 464-472. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcad.2015.11.006

Here is a prompt you can copy into Consensus AI or Google Gemini so that the AI system conducts the TRAAP test on this article, while also verifying that it is a peer-reviewed article:

I am a researcher evaluating the timeliness, reliability, authority, audience, and point of view of the following article, "The evidence for saturated fat and for sugar related to coronary heart disease," found at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcad.2015.11.006. Is the information up to date? Does the author provide a list of works cited in order to verify the information presented?  Is the author an expert in the field? What are the author's credentials? Is this a peer-reviewed article? Is the resource scholarly, or is it written to enlighten, entertain, or advertise? Does the author try to present a biased or an unbiased point of view? Provide links to reliable sources to back up the information you found about this article. 

Note: the text in blue is known as the context, which indicates who you are, your intention, and the title and DOI of the article. The green text is for the questions, which as you can see are based on the TRAAP test. The purple text requests sources so that you can verify yourself that the information provided about the source is correct.

Sample Prompt for Evaluating a YouTube Video

Google Gemini is especially useful for evaluating YouTube Videos because Google owns YouTube and has fast access to the transcripts of every video. Try using the following example as a template for evaluating YouTube videos and other online content:

I am a researcher evaluating the timeliness, reliability, authority, audience, and point of view of the following YouTube Video, "Russia's Fuel Crisis Has Reached Moscow," found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfS_u7U7dDc Is the information up to date? Does the author provide a list of works cited in order to verify the information presented?  Is the author an expert in the field? What are the author's credentials? Is the resource scholarly, or is it written to enlighten, entertain, or advertise? Does the author try to present a biased or an unbiased point of view? Provide links to reliable sources to back up the information you found about this video. 

When you analyze the AI response to this prompt, make sure to check the links yourself to verify the information, and if you would like more information, give the AI a follow-up prompt, such as the following: "Tell me more about author, and provide links about this person."

Sample Prompt for Evaluating a Website or Article at a Media Website

Every media source these days is assumed to have some level of bias, so you can use AI to build your awareness of the typical bias you might expect from different organizations and media sources. You can modify the following prompt to help you evaluate any website or article you find on the internet:

I am a researcher evaluating the timeliness, reliability, authority, audience, and point of view of the following article: "Financial Bubbles Happen Less Often Than You Think," published in the Wall Street Journal on September 8, 2025. Is the information up to date? Does the author provide a list of works cited in order to verify the information presented?  Is the author an expert in the field? What are the author's credentials? Is the resource scholarly, or is it written to enlighten, entertain, or advertise? Does the author try to present a biased or an unbiased point of view? Provide links to reliable sources to back up the information you found about this article. 

As stated before, make sure to check the links yourself. In addition the following websites can help you to evaluate media bias and do your own fact checking: