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Research Essentials

Level up your researching, reading and writing skills with these essential tips and navigate your first university assignments.

What are scholarly sources?

Most university assignments require you to use a range of scholarly sources to support your claims, arguments and ideas. Signs of a scholarly resource include:

  • Has been written by an expert or someone with authority on the subject;
  • Often uses formal or technical language and is aimed at an academic audience;
  • Supports claims with evidence, and provides references for any other sources consulted;
  • Is likely to be peer-reviewed (reviewed by other academics in the same field) and published by a reputable publisher (e.g. a university press).

Tip: Find peer reviewed articles quickly

•    Many scholarly databases, like Discovery,  have filter options to limit your search results to peer reviewed articles. 
•    Try  a multi-disciplinary scholarly database that only includes peer reviewed sources, like Scopus or Web of Science.
•    Check if the journal the article was published in is scholarly or peer-reviewed, search for the journal name in Ulrichs Web Global Serials Directory.

Evaluating sources

Now that you've found your sources, how do you decide if they're relevant and trustworthy enough for your assignment? You can ask yourself the following questions:

How did you find it?

  • Did you find the article at the top of a Google search, or through a database?

  • Was the content recommended to you by an algorithm? If so, why was it recommended?

Who created it?

  • Does the author have relevant qualifications or experience?

  • Are they affiliated with an institution?

  • If the author is an organisation, are they a credible one?

  • Is the publisher reputable?

When was it created?

  • When was it published?

  • Does the source reflect current thinking in your field or topic?

  • For historic research, older material can still be relevant

What supporting sources does it use?

  • Is the information in the source well-researched?

  • How was the data collected and analysed?

  • Is the information they base their conclusions on credible?

  • Does the author use primary source material?

What's the context?

  • Who was the resource created for?

  • Does it provide enough information and analysis about your topic and is it relevant to you?

Tip: Find works that cite your source

•    You can find what other scholars think of the article or book you're reading by checking works that cite it.
•    When a work is cited by another author this means it has been read and considered it, and included in the reference list of the new work. It will tell you if it other scholars agree or disagree with their work.
•    Some scholarly databases will provide a link to publications that have cited the work you're looking at. If you search for a title in Google Scholar, you will find a 'cited by' list for the resource.


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