Evaluating what you find
As you gather resources, it's important to assess their value to your work.
- Are they relevant?
- Are they appropriate?
- Are they credible?
Peer reviewed / scholarly sources
Peer reviewed articles:
- have been reviewed by other academics ("peers") in the same field prior to publication
- are considered to be of a high standard
- are published in peer reviewed journals
It is not necessarily better to use only peer reviewed articles, but they do ensure a certain level of credibility and authority in their field.
Searching for peer reviewed articles
To search for peer reviewed articles, you can limit your database search to peer reviewed articles only.
Evaluating sources
The C-R-A-P (Currency, Reliability, Authority and Purpose) Test can help you determine if a source you have found is reliable and relevant.
Currency- When was the source created?
- Look for publication dates for books or journals, and creation dates for webpages.
- If research changes rapidly in your field, or you need the most up-to-date research, you need sources that were created more recently.
Reliability- Are references or citations provided in the source?
- What kind of information is included in the source? Are there citations?
- Check the bibliography or list of references. Does the source seem well-researched?
Authority- Who is the creator or author?
- Are they qualified to write about this topic? Do they have a qualification or experience in a relevant field?
- For books, is the publisher reputable?
- For journal articles, is the journal a well-known or well-respected journal? Is the article peer-reviewed?
- For websites, is the website affiliated with a university, government department, or other organisation?
Purpose- Who is the audience?
- Is it intended for a general or scholarly audience?
- Is it biased?
- Is it trying to sell you something?
Evaluating ideas
You are expected to critically analyse the sources you use, rather than simply describe the ideas of others.
This involves identifying the strengths and limitations of the arguments and evidence in the sources you read, and developing your own thoughts about the content of texts.
You can start to evaluate ideas by asking yourself these questions as you read:
- How do the ideas link to other concepts I'm learning about?
- What are my own values and bias in relation to the topic?
- Does the author's view align with my own?
- Can the assumptions the author makes be challenged?
- Why and how do different writers interpret the same events, data or evidence differently?
- Based on my knowledge and experience, what do I think about the author's ideas, argument and language?