Research Fundamentals: Step 3: Evaluating your information

Read the Abstract/Summary first. This will help you determine whether the full content/article will be relevant.

A peer-reviewed article has been critically assessed by other scholars/academics within the field of study, prior to publication.

The process helps to ensure that published work meets a high standard of scholarship and quality that is accurate within the field of study.

The internet provides access to seemingly unlimited amounts of information, however, much of it will not be appropriate for your research purposes.
To learn more about information quality on the web, explore the many web-based checklists of evaluation criteria.  Here is an example.

Once you begin to find information, you need to evaluate it to ensure it is appropriate for your research. 

Here are some basic guidelines:

• Reliability of the source: is it from a scholarly journal, textbook, trade publication?
• Authority of the author: qualifications, experience, affiliated with an institution?
• Accuracy of the information: references listed? spelling/grammar consistent?
• Currency/Timeliness: is the information current/up-to-date/historical information?
• Point-of-view: is a particular viewpoint expressed? Is there bias/opinion presented?

Watch this video to learn about the importance of using quality information, and why you can't just Google.

Video source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N39mnu1Pkgw 
Library, Latrobe University