Finding Credible Sources Or Who can you trust when doing your research?

Start with a simple search. Search engines, such as Google or Yahoo! are great places to start But remember, they ARE NOT sources themselves Avoid Wikipedia.  It is not acceptable as a source Print and digital encyclopedias, such as Encyclopedia Britannica and InfoPlease.com are excellent sources Wikipedia that allow multiple users to edit, some one can place misleading information on it.

Use online scholarly databases InfoTrac, LexisNexis and EBSCO Newspapers and magazines  Are rich sources of information about what is happening now Don’t forget the library.  overlooked because students think it’s more convenient to look subjects up online Might miss out on accidentally stumbling upon a book or magazine that might just be the perfect source for your research paper.

How Do I Know If My Source Is Credible? Does it Have: Expert Author: an authority on the subject matter will typically list the author’s academic degree and affiliate institution Author Objectivity: It should be clear that the author’s purpose is to inform, educate and explain The author’s arguments should be support by properly cited facts from multiple sources Peer Reviews: reviewed by other experts in the author’s field of study High-Quality Content: material should be clearly organized and relevant to the topic at hand should be well written and free of grammatical and spelling errors

PRIMARY SOURCES A primary sources is any item that has a direct connection to the topic you are studying written documents Interviews Anything else directly related: i.e. paintings, coins, clothing, etc.

Secondary Sources Secondary sources are those items not directly connected to the topic being studied

Types of sources Reference Sources provide important background information and help you better understand your topic a great place to start your research by getting some basic facts and information things like encyclopedias. DO NOT USE WIKIPEDIA

Books and Textbooks present a multitude of topics Because of the time it takes to publish a book, books usually contain more dated information than will be found in journals and newspapers. provide in-depth analysis of your topic. Scholarly books are written and reviewed by experts.

Journal Articles provide in-depth analysis on very narrowly focused topics Scholarly articles are written and reviewed by experts Academic and trade journals are where to find the most up-to-date information and research in industry, business, and academia several forms, including literature reviews that overview current and past research, articles on theories and history, or articles on specific processes or research.

Newspaper & Magazine Articles provide basic coverage of your topic allow you to track media coverage of your topic covering the latest events and trends contain very up-to-date information report both information that is factual in nature and also share opinions

Government Reports and Legal Documents: The government releases information intended for its own use or for public use documents can be an excellent source of information An example of a government report is the U.S. Census data government reports and legal documents can now be accessed online.

Press Releases and Advertising: Companies and special interest groups produce texts to help persuade readers to act in some way or inform the public about some new development

Flyers, Pamphlets, Leaflets: some flyers or pamphlets are created by reputable sources many less-than-reputable sources also produce these are useful for quick reference or very general information.

Multimedia: Printed material is certainly not the only option for finding research radio and television broadcasts, interactive talks, and public meetings

Websites provide quick, free access to information types of all kinds most of the information on the Internet is distributed via Web sites vary widely in quality of information and validity of sources Be careful to evaluate the reliability of web sources.

Weblogs / Blogs: A rather recent development in Web technology type of interactive journal where writers post and readers respond vary widely in quality of information and validity of sources For example, many prestigious journalists and public figures may have blogs, which may be more credible of a blog than most.

Message boards, Discussion lists, and Chat rooms: exist for all kinds of disciplines plenty of boards exist that are rather unhelpful and poorly researched.

Multimedia on the Web: has a multitude of multimedia resources including online broadcasts and news, images, audio files, and interactive Web sites.