How to do Library Research

How can you tell if a source is right for your research? Below are a series of questions to ask about the currency, relevance, accuracy, authority, and purpose of the sources you find while researching.

Is the source current?

When was the source published? When was it last updated? Does your research topic require the most current information, or can you use older resources? If there are links in the source, do they still work?

Is the source relevant?

Is the information relevant to your research topic? Does it help answer your research question? Who is the intended audience for this information? How can you tell this? Is the expertise level of the information appropriate for your needs?  How is the information presented? Is it an article, a video, a blog post, etc.? Have you looked at a wide variety of sources on the topic?

Who is the source authority?

Who is the author of the source? What is their background in the field? What credentials do they have? How do these credentials shape the way you perceive the information? Who published the information? What credentials do they have? What other sort of sources have they published? Who may have sponsored the publication of this information? Has this source been reviewed by anyone (i.e., peer-reviewed, edited by another expert, etc.)? Does the author cite credible sources? Are there a variety of references? What other types of authority may be relevant to the source?

Is the source accurate?

Does the source cover the topic in detail? What might be missing from the information available? Is the information supported by evidence? What sort of evidence is cited? Where does this evidence come from? Are there any spelling, grammatical, or other errors?

What is the purpose of the source?

Why was this information created? Are these intentions clear? Does the point of view appear to be objective? Is the source biased one way or another? How can you tell? What sort of biases may affect the trustworthiness of the source?

Below is a simple checklist you can use to determine the scholarliness of a resource. Not all scholarly sources will have all of these, but a majority will.

Publisher

Check the publisher's website to verify who they are, any affiliations, the purpose of the publication, and further information. Universities, government agencies, professional organizations, and major publishing companies (i.e., Sage, Elsevier, etc.) are generally reliable resources.

Author(s)

The credentials of the author(s) (their degrees and affiliate institutions) should be listed with their names.

Structure

The resource should have clearly labeled sections (these often include an Abstract, a Literature Review, a Methods section, and a section for the Discussion/Conclusions). Scholarly sources also include graphs and tables as necessary.

References

These are the sources that are cited. This can be referred to as a bibliography, a works cited, or a references list.

Content

The source should cover the topic in detail and use formal language and discipline-specific terminology. Always check for bias.