It is important to examine an author’s and/or publisher’s institutional affiliations and/or previous works because this is important when vetting your sources for bias and therefore credibility. What is meant by this? Well, let’s say you were doing research on a gun control issue. Let’s further say you have discovered a really good, well-written article in support of gun control in favor of gun rights/the right to bear arms. However, upon doing a little investigating, you discover that the author of the article is in fact a member of the National Rifle Association. As such, the article is most likely biased and therefore not a reliable source of information. So, again, it is important to always examine an author’s or publisher’s institutional affiliations as well as previous works.