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Evaluating Your Sources: Government Documents

How do I know it's a government document?

The domain in the URL can help. If it's a United States website, the url will have .gov as the domain.

epa website

 

If it's a government site outside the U.S., it may have .gov and then the country initials. For example, here is Turkey's:

This practice for international governments, while popular, is not universal.

Evaluating Government Documents

Government Documents

  • What is the agenda of the government in question?
  • What government agency produced it and what is the purpose of that agency?