Is LitCharts a credible resource?

We know that credibility is of paramount importance when you are studying a piece of literature or designing a teaching plan. The resources you choose to use matter.

We would like to share a little of our history and the steps we’ve taken to ensure that LitCharts is and remains a credible citable source.

LitCharts is created by literature experts, run by literature experts, and every LitChart is written by a literature expert.

Our founders, Ben and Justin, are experts in English Literature. They both graduated magna cum laude with highest honors in English Literature from Harvard. Since then, they have worked in education and academic publishing for twenty years. As a team, they have produced hundreds of books on literature that now have over 20 million copies in print.

We’re also very selective about the writers and editors who work with us at LitCharts. Our writers and editors are among the best prize-winning students and graduates from the top universities in the United States. The careers our writers build during and after their time with us prove just how good they are. Our writers have gone on to write for The New Yorker, Esquire, N+1, and The Harvard Business Review, and have had fiction published in Granta. One even wrote a novel nominated for a National Book award!

Our excellent writers are matched by our editors, who run every manuscript through a detailed, three-stage editorial process that focuses on accuracy, clarity, accessibility, and level of insight. You can trust that every LitChart we produce has gone through the same rigorous writing and editorial process to ensure that each one is accurate and credible.

Perhaps an even a greater testament to the credibility of our guides is not who creates our guides, but the people around the world who use them. Millions of teachers--not just students--around the world use LitCharts to increase their understanding of texts and to help them develop lessons. Our paid subscribers include thousands of teachers and schools who join LitCharts A+ in order to use our materials directly in class. As Eleanor S., an English literature teacher once told us, "I've found LitCharts to be the best literary resource to recommend to my students."