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Research Process Guide

A great place to start research assignments

 

Header image reading: utilize the CRAAP Test and our internet resources evaluation to assure that these resources are relevant to your assignment and are considered to be reliable information.

Scholarly Resources vs. Non-Scholarly Resources

Scholarly literature is written by researchers or experts in their field and must go through the peer review process before articles are published in a journal. The peer review process requires authors to submit their papers to a publisher who will then share their work with other experts in the same field to review and evaluate. These experts will then determine if the information the author is presenting is credible. If it is not, the article will either be sent back to the author to make the necessary revisions or rejected outright and not be published in the journal.

Some examples of academic journals are:

  • Journal of American History

  • Psychological Review

  • Nature

  • Annals of the National Academy of Science​

  • Journal of the American Medical Association

Popular periodicals, usually referred to as magazines and newspapers,  are probably most familiar to you. Examples include titles such as,

  • The New York Times

  • Newsweek

  • National Geographic

  • Psychology Today

  • Wall Street Journal

Magazines and newspapers are written by journalists or staff who often write about a broad range of topics without necessarily being an expert on that topic. Outside of an editor making sure the article is well written and some basic fact checking, there is little oversight for what information gets published. This is not to say a magazine or newspaper can't be trusted or isn't factually accurate, but that you need to evaluate each source to determine if it is credible. 

Evaluating Information

CRAAP Test

How do you know if you have found “good” information?  The CRAAP Test is a list of questions that you can use to evaluate the information that you find.

Currency: the timeliness of the information

  • When was the information published or posted?
  • Has the information been revised or updated?
  • Is the information current or out-of-date for your topic?
  • Are the links functional?

Relevance: the importance of the information for your needs

  • Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question?
  • Who is the intended audience?
  • Is the information at an appropriate level (i.e. not too elementary or advanced for your needs)?
  • Have you looked at a variety of sources before determining this is one you will use?
  • Would you be comfortable using this source for a research paper?

Authority: the source of the information

  • Who is the author/publisher/source/sponsor?
  • Are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations given?
  • What are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations?
  • What are the author's qualifications to write on the topic?
  • Is there contact information, such as a publisher or e-mail address?
  • Does the URL reveal anything about the author or source?
    • examples: .com (commercial), .edu (educational), .gov (U.S. government), .org (nonprofit organization), or .net (network)

Accuracy: the reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the content

  • Where does the information come from?
  • Is the information supported by evidence?
  • Has the information been reviewed or refereed?
  • Can you verify any of the information in another source or from personal knowledge?
  • Does the language or tone seem biased and free of emotion?
  • Are there spelling, grammar, or other typographical errors?

Purpose: the reason the information exists

  • What is the purpose of the information? to inform? teach? sell? entertain? persuade?
  • Do the authors/sponsors make their intentions or purpose clear?
  • Is the information fact? opinion? propaganda?
  • Does the point of view appear objective and impartial?
  • Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional, or personal biases?

When using Internet resources, you must carefully evaluate the source of your information before utilizing its content. Evaluate your websites using the following criteria: 

Domain - the quality of information and the type of URL are interrelated. A ".gov" or ".edu" URL is more trustworthy than a ".com" or ".net". A ".org" URL will require deeper investigation, as it then depends on the type of organization. 

Authority - Is the author's name visible? What are the author's credentials? Is contact information for the author available?

Currency - Is the website up to date? Websites with information that is updated regularly are preferable to those that are left out-of-date or recycled too often. 

Bias - Since anyone can create informational content online, the Internet is often used as a sounding board for thoughts and opinions. Look out for a works cited list and advertisements to evaluate the bias and possible inaccuracies in the information. 

Origin - How did you find this source? Was it recommended by a faculty member, cited in a scholarly journal article, or was it linked by another trustworthy website? Where you got this information can indicate how reliable it might be. 

Functionality - If the website contains broken links, is difficult to navigate and malfunctions often, then it reflects poorly on the credibility of the information. 

Confirmation Bias

What is Confirmation Bias? 

Definition: the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories.(Encyclopedia Brittanica)

This video below outlines the importance of understanding Confirmation Bias and avoiding it in our academic endeavors.