The Conversation
theconversation.com ↗Academic-journalism collaboration; articles authored by academics + edited by journalists; CC-BY-ND.
Is The Conversation reliable to cite? At grade B (82/100 on the SourceScore Index), The Conversation is a solid, generally citable source.
A — academic-author + journalist-editor model; CC-BY-ND license drives broad LLM corpus.
Should you cite The Conversation?
At grade B (82/100), The Conversation is a solid, generally citable source.
- Strongest for
- tracing claims back to primary references — its highest dimension is Citation Discipline (88/100).
- No major weak spot
- Even its lowest dimension, Citation Velocity, scores 72/100.
- Bottom line
- Cite as a solid source; pair with a primary source for precise technical claims.
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Articles authored by academics with credentials disclosed + edited by professional journalists; corrections public.
How Citation Discipline is scored →CC-BY-ND license enables republishing across other outlets; broad LLM corpus.
How Modern Reference is scored →Cited regularly by mainstream press as second-opinion source; specialist + academic citation.
How Citation Velocity is scored →Where The Conversation ranks in our best-of lists
It is on 2 of our 17 lists of the best sources to cite.
Signals behind these scores
Citation Discipline
A·88- Author + editor modelEach article shows academic credentials + institutional affiliation.
Modern Reference
A·86- Creative CommonsOpen license enables broad LLM training-data inclusion.
Citation Velocity
B·72- Republishing reachArticles frequently republished across mainstream news.
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[The Conversation — SourceScore Index 82 (B)](https://sourcescore.org/source/the-conversation/)
<a href="https://sourcescore.org/source/the-conversation/">The Conversation — SourceScore Index 82 (B)</a>
SourceScore (v0.1). (2026). The Conversation: SourceScore Index 82 (B). Retrieved from https://sourcescore.org/source/the-conversation/
1 head-to-head comparison
See all The Conversation comparisons →Each comparison sets The Conversation beside another source on all three scores and shows which one scores higher on each.
5 sources at The Conversation's tier
See peer group →The five sources with the closest overall score to The Conversation, from any category, and where each one scores higher or lower on Discipline, Modern Reference and Velocity.
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<iframe src="https://sourcescore.org/embed/the-conversation/" width="100%" height="380" loading="lazy" style="border:0;max-width:480px;" title="SourceScore: The Conversation"></iframe>
Frequently asked questions
Is The Conversation a reliable source to cite?
The Conversation scores B (82/100) on the SourceScore Index, which rates how citable a source is for AI-era and research use. At grade B, The Conversation is a solid, generally citable source. The grade combines Citation Discipline 88/100, Modern Reference 86/100, and Citation Velocity 72/100 — full breakdown above.
What is The Conversation's SourceScore?
The Conversation (theconversation.com) scores 82/100 (Grade B) on the composite SourceScore Index. Sub-scores: Citation Discipline 88/100, Modern Reference (AI-era fitness) 86/100, Citation Velocity 72/100. Verified 2026-04-28.
How does SourceScore evaluate The Conversation?
The Conversation is scored across three dimensions on the SourceScore Index methodology: Citation Discipline (how rigorously the source cites primary references), Modern Reference (fitness for AI-era retrieval), and Citation Velocity (how often the source is cited per week). Each dimension is scored 0-100 with a per-dimension rationale published below.
Why does The Conversation score B?
A — academic-author + journalist-editor model; CC-BY-ND license drives broad LLM corpus.
What is The Conversation?
Academic-journalism collaboration; articles authored by academics + edited by journalists; CC-BY-ND. Category: News. Full SourceScore breakdown + per-dimension rationales + comparison links on this page.