## 4 Results and Discussion
### Article Title, Author, Publisher and Metadata Impact
#### 4.1.3 Publication Data  
This section considers the differences in respondents' perceptions regarding the usefulness of the publication date in judging the trustworthiness of an article. While there is limited change in the level of reliance placed on articles' publication dates by income level, the level of use tends to decrease as income level increases, up until the highest income level, at the combined great deal/a lot/moderate amount level. In terms of political affiliation, Democrats report the highest level of reliance on the article publication date, followed by Republicans, and then independents/other party members. Each party reports a lower level of perceived reliance on articles' publication date by others than by themselves, at the combined great deal/a lot levels (though results are more similar with the moderate amount responses are also included). Democrats indicate ideally having more reliance on publication date, while Republicans and independent/other party members' perceptions of self-use and ideal use are much closer to each other. In terms of internet usage, the lowest level of internet usage shows the lowest level of perceived utility of articles' publication date for evaluating article credibility, at both the combined great deal/a lot and combined great deal/a lot/moderate amount levels. At the great deal/a lot/moderate amount level, perceived utility increases with increased internet usage. This trend is not present for the combined great deal/a lot level; however, it is also present when looking only at the great deal responses. Figure 17 presents respondents' perceptions of the publication date's impact on their personal decision making when considering the validity of an article. While fluctuation is  
seen across income levels, at the combined great deal/a lot level in Figure A7a, the level of perceived utility appears to consistently decrease with increasing income across all income levels, except the $125,000 or more level (where it increases, as compared to the $100,000 to $124,999 income level, but is still below the $75,000 to $99,999 income level). The political party affiliation data shows (in Figure A7b) the strongest perceived utility of the publication date coming from Democrats, followed by Republicans and then independents/other party members. All three groups show at least 60% of respondents seeing utility to using the publication date (at the combined great deal/a lot/moderate amount level). Limited variation is seen in perceived publication date utility due to internet usage levels (Figure A7c), at the combined great deal/a lot level, with the lowest usage being indicated at the 1 h or less internet usage level. There is notably more usage at the other three levels, which indicate similar perceived efficacy at the combined great deal/a lot level and show a moderate increase in publication date use with increased internet usage at the combined great deal/a lot/moderate amount level. Figure A8 presents respondents' perceptions of the publication date's impact on the decision making of others when considering the validity of an article. Figure A8a shows variation between income levels at both the combined great deal/a lot and combined great deal/a lot/moderate amount levels. A general downward trend in usage with increasing income is shown at both levels. The highest income level, however, showed increased usage and some deviation from the trend present at the intervening levels. In terms of political affiliations, Democrats show the highest level of use, followed by Republicans and the independents/other party members, at both the combined great deal/a lot and combined great deal/a lot/moderate amount levels. The internet usage data shows an increase in publication date usage as internet usage increases from 1 to 5 h (at both the combined great deal/a lot and combined great deal/a lot/moderate amount levels); however, a decline in usage is indicated at the more than 5 h usage level in Figure A8c.