How to Evaluate Research Materials

How to Evaluate Research Materials After You Find Them

After you locate your materials, evaluate them to make sure that they are appropriate for your purposes in their audience, content, coverage, and depth.

Consider:

the reputation of the author (may include their credentials, training, background, experience; however, notoriety doesn't equal reputation!)
the type and reputation of the book, journal, magazine or online source
who published it (again, some publishers are more reputable than others)
how recent the material is (more important in some fields, such as medicine or physics, than literature)
Is the material in the library? It is more time-effective and often more credible to use sources from an academic library than from other places.
Materials from the Internet, if not from a recognizable source, must be evaluated as carefully as or more carefully than materials from the library, since the content, authorship and provision of Internet publications is always subject to question.

All of these may have an impact on whether or not you wish to use a particular source. Other evaluation points:

What is the author's thesis, intention or purpose? Is it fulfilled?
Is there bias?
Is the method of gathering data accurate and appropriate for the field? For the circumstances?
Are the sources cited and documented fully?

More about evaluation of sources |How to tell journals from magazines |How to evaluate Internet sources: a checklist

Do you have enough material of the right kinds? Are there any limitations on what you may use?

Quoting authors with good reputations and credentials lends weight to points you make in a paper or speech; persons or sources with a reputation of being unreliable can do the opposite. Internet sources vary as widely as printed sources in quality and reputation, and many more individuals, regardless of their credentials, publish on the Internet.

Since authors always have personal biases, and publications often have agendas, remember that what you read in print, or on the computer screen, isn't necessarily true or at least is not the whole story. Expect that a publication from a religious organization will support that group's beliefs; likewise, if a magazine has a political agenda, such as Mother Jones, Ms. or National Review, you must expect articles in it to support its cause.

One of the reasons that professors will recommend scholarly journals is that the information in them has been both researched and approved of by others in the field, usually with degrees or experience or both, before it is published, unlike popular magazines or other materials which may or may not have been researched in any depth.

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If you have questions, come to the Reference Desk, call 479-575-6645, or email your questions to refer@uark.edu.

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