Information can be gathered from a variety of formats:
- Journal articles (scholarly, peer-reviewed)
- Books
- Book chapters
- Newspaper articles
- Magazine articles
- Websites
- Reports or white papers
- Government documents, reports, legislation
- Social media
- Blogs
- Online forums
- Statistics
- Interviews
- Experiments
No matter the format, you must evaluate the information to determine if it is appropriate for your research need. Consider:
- Authority
- Who wrote/created the source? Is the author(s) affiliated with a particular institution/discipline?
- Perspective
- Is a particular group/organization responsible for the source? If so, what is the mission or goal of that group/organization?
- Does the author/group have a specific perspective which might affect treatment of the topic?
- Audience
- Who is the intended audience of the source?
- Is the information presented in a specific format or structure in order to appeal to a particular audience?
- Does the nature of the intended audience impact the way in which the information is presented?
- Accuracy/Reliability
- Are opinions presented as facts?
- Are asserted “facts” backed up with reliable evidence?
- Can you rely on the accuracy of the information presented? Why or why not?
- Currency
- How recently was the information produced? Is it sufficiently up to date to be reliable for this topic?
