Wikipedia:Tiers of reliability
Tier 1: most reliable
Peer-reviewed publications
- Peer-reviewed articles in academic journals, e.g. Science [1] or Nature [2]
- Literature reviews, systematic reviews, and other review articles
- Peer-reviewed conference papers
- Examples:
- Malawey, Victoria (2014). "'Find out what it means to me': Aretha Franklin's gendered re-authoring of Otis Redding's 'Respect'". Popular Music. 33 (2): 185–207. doi:10.1017/S0261143014000270. S2CID 161360928.
- Lordi, Emily J. (2016). "Souls intact: The soul performances of Audre Lorde, Aretha Franklin, and Nina Simone". Women & Performance. 26 (1): 55–71. doi:10.1080/0740770X.2016.1183981. S2CID 194498055.
Academic books
- Books published by university presses, e.g. Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press
- Specialist encyclopedias, e.g. Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia
- Examples:
- David W. Stowe (2011). No Sympathy for the Devil: Christian Pop Music and the Transformation of American Evangelicalism. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9780807878002.
- Linda Solomon (2019). The Queen Next Door: Aretha Franklin, An Intimate Portrait. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 9780814347294
Tier 2: more reliable
Non-peer-reviewed academic publications
- Non-peer-reviewed articles in academic journals, e.g. Science [3] or Nature [4]
- Book reviews in academic journals
- Non-peer-reviewed conference papers
- Example: Fink, Robert; Weisbard, Eric; Dibbell, Carola; Christgau, Georgia; Tate, Greg; Denise, Dj Lynnée (2019). "Remembering Aretha Franklin". Journal of Popular Music Studies. 31 (1): 3–14. doi:10.1525/jpms.2019.311002. S2CID 150034745.
Mass-market books
- "Big Five (publishers): Hachette, Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster
- Example: Craig Werner (2007). Higher Ground Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, and the Rise and Fall of American Soul. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 9780307420879.
Highly-reputable international journalism
- BBC
- The New York Times
- The Wall Street Journal
- The Washington Post
- Los Angeles Times
- The Economist
- Foreign Affairs
- International wire services: Associated Press (AP), Reuters, Agence France-Presse (AFP)
- Example: "Obituary: Aretha Franklin" (August 16, 2018). BBC News.
Tier 3: reliable
Tertiary sources
- General reference works, e.g. Encyclopædia Britannica, Oxford English Dictionary
- Example: "Aretha Franklin" (March 21, 2021). Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Other generally reliable news sources
- National and international journalism that is less than top-rated
- Regional and local news ("Channel 5 news", local newspapers)
- Trade publications
- Any source listed as green at WP:RSP would be at least in this tier
- Example: Brian McCollum (August 16, 2018). "Aretha Franklin dies at 76: Detroit star transformed American music". Detroit Free Press.
Expert self-published
- Snow Lion Publications [5]
- Doctoral theses
- Example: Charles Kronengold, interviewed by Robin Wander (August 29, 2018). "Stanford musicologist reflects on 'multimusical' Aretha Franklin". Stanford University.
Tier 4: limited use
Non-expert self-published
- Official websites, brochures and other promotional materials
- Opinion/editorial (see WP:RSOPINION)
- vanity press
- predatory publishing
- churnalism
- government propaganda
- Undergraduate and graduate theses
- Examples:
- Aretha Franklin Official Website
- Michael Eric Dyson (August 16, 2018). "The Church of Aretha Franklin: How the Queen of Soul preached to us all" (op-ed). The New York Times.
- Pamela J. Greene (December 1995). "Aretha Franklin: The Emergence of Soul and Black Women's Consciousness in the Late 1960s and 1970s"] (PhD dissertation). Graduate College, Bowling Green State University.
Questionable sources
- Sources listed as yellow at WP:RSP
- Example: Samatha Schnurr (August 16, 2018). "Aretha Franklin, "Queen of Soul," Dead at 76". E! News.
Primary sources
See also
- Policies
- Guidelines
- Explanatory supplements
- Independent sources (WP:INDY)
- General essays
- Reliable sources checklist (WP:RSVETTING)
- Cherrypicking (WP:CHERRYPICK)
- Potentially unreliable sources (WP:PUS)
- Reliable source examples (WP:RSE)
- Topic-specific essays
- Identifying reliable sources (history) (WP:HISTRS)
- Identifying reliable sources (law) (WP:RSLAW)
- Identifying reliable sources (science) (WP:SCIRS)
- Identifying reliable sources (medicine) (WP:MEDRS)
- Identifying and using style guides (WP:STYLEGUIDES)
- Using maps and similar sources in Wikipedia articles (WP:MAPCITE)
- Other