Evaluate the information sources is the major part of the research process. Its reason is that all the information is not true. Moreover, all the information is not suitable for your research paper. Before relying on a piece of information, you should critically evaluate the appropriateness of the information. Traditionally, we can gather information from library resources. Nowadays, we can also gather information from online resources. We can easily get access to these online resources from the internet. The quality of information that is available on the internet also changes significantly. Here, Chris Greenwalty, writer at RioMag, will discuss the most important ways to evaluate the information resources.
Check Authority:
To check the authority of the information, we have to check the sources of the information. While checking the authority of the information, we have to consider lots of things. First of all, we have to check the author or creator of the publication. We should also check the credentials of the author. In the credentials of an author, there comes the author’s education, professional experience and other publications. In most the cases, the author provides complete information about his credentials in a paragraph at the back of the book. Secondly, we should also check the citations of the author in other publications. In the case of the web sources, you should look for the information of the author. If you are getting information from a committee or an organization, you should check the authority of this committee or organization.
Publication Process:
There are two different publication methods of print and internet sources. In the case of the print sources, the authors have to follow an extensive publication process. It means that they have to Guest posting sites write the content, edit it and review it. To ensure the quality of the information, they have to check it from the fact-checkers, editors and reviewers. If an author has followed all of these steps, his information resources are authentic. Most of the print publications are providing authentic information to the readers. The researchers have to face problems in the form of internet sources. Anyone on the internet can publish the information. You should try to gather the information from authentic websites only.
Check Accuracy:
While checking the accuracy of information resources, we have to check its reliability, truthfulness and correctness. An information resource should be accurate. The authors support the accurate information resource with evidence. The researchers should also check the balancing and biasing of the information resource. If you are reading an article in a journal, you should make sure that it should be peer-reviewed. You should also check the reliability of the information from other resources. These other resources should also be reliable. While checking the correctness of the information, you should make it free from spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes. Lots of critical reviews are available on the internet. When you will read these critical reviews, you can also get an idea about the accuracy of the information.
Check Objectivity:
Most of the authors share the information by keeping in mind their objectives. For example, they want to sell their products. They want to capture conversions and much more. When an author has these kinds of objectives, he will show bias in the information. You should try to find such a source of information whose objective is relevant to your objective. When you will present highly biased information in your scholarly articles, you can’t get the attention of the readers. You should also check the attachment of donations or advertising with the resource. This kind of financial support can also skew the subject coverage of information resources.
Check Currency:
Currency means you will have to check the timeliness of the information. It is also the best way to evaluate the quality of the research sources. If you don’t check the currency of the information, you may present outdated information in your research paper. Due to the use of outdated information, you can’t maintain the accuracy of the information. If you are writing a science research paper, you must check its currency. In the sciences, new developments occur frequently. In the case of the arts and humanities, you can check currency appropriately. In some research papers, we have to write hundreds of years ago information. You should also get an indication of the date of publication of the material. At the end of the web applications, the authors provide information about the last update. You should also consider it while checking the currency of the information.
Check Coverage:
Recommended by a dissertation help firm, the researchers should also check the coverage of information resources. Some information sources will adequately cover your research topic. When you will use this resource to gather the data, you don’t need to read other resources for further information. On the other hand, some information sources just cover one part of your topic idea. When you will use this resource to gather information for your research paper, you will have to read further resources. If you have gathered more than one resource, you should compare the coverage of all the resources. While comparing the coverage of these resources, you should think about the resources that are providing more in-depth information. This resource will fulfil the needs of your research paper.
Purpose of the Information Resources:
In the end, you will have to check the purpose of the information resource. When you will check the purpose of the information resources, you will get an idea about the reason for the existence of the information. To check the purpose of the information resource, first of all, you should check the intent of the website. When you will check the intent of the website, you will get an idea either author is using this website to sell something or to persuade people. Secondly, you should also check the domain name of the website. Thirdly, you should also check the kinds of ads on the website. Fourthly, you should compare the content of this website with the topic of your research paper. At last, you should also gather information about the intended audience of the website.
