When searching a library database such as MLA you can obtain some evaluation criteria right for the citation. In the example below we can see the following:
Author -- see if you can find the author's credentials by Googling his name, check HELIN or WorldCat to see if he has authored any books on this research topic. Go to the PDF version of the article and see if his affiliation is given on the first page of the article.
Title - this can be tricky - depending on how much the title reflects the author's content.
Abstract or Summary -- note that MLA does not provide abstracts -- but many databases do - always read the abstract to determine if the article is relevant to your research
Source -- in this case American Literature - have you heard of this title? If not click on the [Journal Detail] link for more information or check Ulrichs Web to learn more about it. What database collections contain full-text content for this journal?
Date - Can be important if you need updated information.
Pages -- Greater page length can be indicative of a more substantial scholarly article.
Peer Reviewed - YES means that it has been reviewed by scholars in the field.
