Tips To Sort Out Best Research Sources
The dreaded research paper can leave many wondering where to go for information. With the Internet being so accessible, it might be tempting to type words into a search engine and use whatever comes up first. You may get lucky and get great sources, or you may get stuck with less credible sites that leave your professor wondering where you got such information. Learning how to evaluate sourcesfor research paper writing is a key component to your research paper’s success. Here are five tips to help you as you gather your sources:
- Avoid Wikipedia. Print and digital encyclopedias, such as Encyclopedia Britannica and InfoPlease.com, are excellent sources from which to gather material. But be careful of sites such as Wikipedia that allow multiple users to edit. Wikipedia is a great jumping-off point in terms of figuring out what to search for, but double-check all of the facts by using credible sources of information.
- Use online scholarly databases such as InfoTrac, LexisNexis, and EBSCO, which provide access to the latest research in hundreds of areas.
- Newspapers and magazines are also rich sources of information about what is happening now. Consider browsing through the New York Times, TIME, and the Wall Street Journal.
- Don’t forget the library. Often this rich source of information is overlooked because students think it’s more convenient to look subjects up online. The problem with that is you miss out on accidentally stumbling upon a book or magazine that might just be the perfect source for your research paper.
- NEXT: Finding Credible Sources Online Part 2
Added techniques include:
Try to find the sources that have been cited by the most other sources. This takes a bit of research before you’re able to find these, but as you read several sources, you should start to see a pattern of references. Follow that pattern.
After you’ve found a few good resources that help explain your topic, get to the sources behind those research paper sources.
Get at least one source per expected pages for the research paper.
If you get enough research paper resources while following these tips to make them interesting and unique, and I’m confident your research paper will stand out from your classmates.
Knobull suggests the review of added details at: https://eliteediting.com/resources/where-to-find-credible-sources-for-your-research-paper/
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