A Guide for Students to Evaluating Sources while Researching

 

A Guide for Students to Evaluating Sources while Researching



In the current world of research, a very useful tool is the internet. And the internet is packed with information. But not all information found on the internet is valid. So evaluating the information for the research project is very hard for the new researcher, especially students who just started conducting research. That’s why it is really important to sort out the legitimate information from the stack of information found online. If you are a student then this guide will be helpful for you to learn how to evaluate legitimate information with the help of Researchmate.net and some other techniques.

 Know the Goals and Objectives: In the first step of starting looking for information, you should know what exactly are looking for. Research articles, news reports, journal papers or other primary sources, what are you seeking? After understanding your needs, you will be able to move in the right direction.

 Analyze the Source Credibility:

  1. Authorship: Check the author’s qualifications, field of expertise and affiliations. Having qualifications and expertise is a big requirement for giving any credible data. Checking the institutional affiliations is also important because it can lead to giving biased information in the source.
  2. Publisher: See if the publication or the website hosting the source is known for any research publication. Check their domain credibility. Also, do they have any research paper review panel or not?

Fact Check and Evaluate the Content:

  1. Accuracy: Cross-verify the information presented in the journal from other reputable sources. Check if they have proper citations and references to support their claims.
  2. Publication Age: In many cases, the date of the published research paper is really influential. Depending on the topic, up to date information can sometimes become a major requirement for research.
  3. Biases: Check if the source has a balanced point of view. Recognize if it has a political, ideological, commercial or cultural biases in the tone of the content.

 Use the Proper Tools: You must take advantage of the proper managing tools to stay on track. Luckily Researchmate.net offers many managing tools which are real help for the users.

Check the Citations and References: The references and citations mentioned in the source also need to be credible enough and relevant to support the claims. That’s why it is a green sign if the author has relied on reputable sources.

Always Keep a Keen Eye: There are some common red flags for unreliable sources like- catchy headings, grammatical errors, lack of citations, unreliable sources or too much emotional tone in the writing.

Take Help from the Expert Researchers: You can build your connection to some experts in the same category of research. You will be able to learn the process of evaluation of research from them hand to hand. If you facing trouble finding someone like then you can look into Researchmate.net. It helps you to expert researchers with similar areas and interests.

Lastly, you need to use your instinct the most. After a while of conducting research, you will automatically get the edge of it. Remember in the hunt for information, skepticism is your ally.



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