The following resources will help students identify valid, legitimate, and scholarly rigorous information for your research.
The Important Questions of Evaluation:
The 5 Ws
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The Surface-Level Questions | The Deeper Questions |
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Who? |
Who is the author, editor, or creator? Is the author qualified to write about this topic? Who is the publisher? |
What makes them qualified? First-hand experience? An advanced degree? |
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What? |
What type of document is it? For example, is it a newspaper article? A blog? A government website? A scholarly article? A book? What is it about? |
There is no 'bad' type of document, but some have gone through a more rigorous review process than others. |
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When? |
When was this source published? Is the publication date appropriate for your research? |
The 'up-to-date'-ness of a source matters more for some research questions than others. |
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Where? |
Where did you find the source? In a peer-reviewed journal? In a library database? On a website? For websites, what is the URL ending? For example, .com? .gov? .org? .edu? |
Be strategic about where you look for information. Which search tool, database, or website is most likely to have the kind of information you need. |
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Why? |
What was the goal of the author or publisher? Is there bias? |
Bias does not necessarily negate credibility. We all have biases. The question then becomes: are those biases disclosed? Do they impact the quality of the information? |
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How? |
How did the author(s) gather data and information? Did they include citations? Did they derive reasonable conclusions from the research? |
Did the author(s) only cite themselves/their associates? How well did they explain their process? Was their work reviewed by anyone else? |
Here is a short video from the N.C. State librarians:
TRAAP
Run Time: 3:17
Key Student Learning Competencies:
SIFT
Run Time: 1:52
Key Student Learning Competencies: