Evaluating the credibility of scholarly information on the web: A cross cultural study

Abstract

This study investigates how Chinese students make credibility assessments of web-based information for their research, and what evaluation criteria they employ. Our findings indicate that presumed credibility, reputed credibility, and surface credibility have a stronger impact on undergraduate students than on graduate students in credibility assessment. Graduate students tend to value experienced credibility more than undergraduate students. Undergraduate students predominantly rely on author's name/reputation/affiliation as well as website reputation for their credibility evaluation. In contrast, graduate students focus more than undergraduate students on information accuracy/quality. Similarities and differences in credibility assessment between American students and Chinese students are also discussed.