Independent Research
Evaluating Websites
Academic versus Credible Resources versus Sensationalism
• Scholarly or peer-reviewed journal articles are written by scholars or professionals who are experts in their fields. In the sciences and social sciences, they often publish research results. (Google Scholar and PubMed, in addition to the more academic databases, are excellent places to locate scholarly journal articles.)
• Substantive news articles are reliable sources of information on events and issues of public concern.
• Popular articles reflect the tastes of the general public and are often meant as entertainment.
• Sensational and tabloid articles intend to arouse strong curiosity, interest, or reaction. They do not follow the standards of journalistic ethics. They are not factually accurate.
(Source: Cornell University Library)
• Substantive news articles are reliable sources of information on events and issues of public concern.
• Popular articles reflect the tastes of the general public and are often meant as entertainment.
• Sensational and tabloid articles intend to arouse strong curiosity, interest, or reaction. They do not follow the standards of journalistic ethics. They are not factually accurate.
(Source: Cornell University Library)
Examples of Substantive News Articles
• Unbiased or BALANCED coverage of the topic.
• Facts and research backed-up with citations • Information is consistent across multiple sources/media. • More formal tone. • To-the-point writing Examples of Popular Articles
• Blogs! Heavy opinion/perspective pieces are for casual reading, not research.
• Recognize when what you're reading is OPINION vs. FACT. • Casual tone/friendly writing style • Could be heavy on humor, sarcasm, satire, or personal experience Examples of Sensational/Tabloid Articles
• Gossip, rumors, and other un-cited information.
• If you cannot tell where the information comes from, and it heavily favors a perspective that cannot be corroborated with other sources, be suspicious. • Smear campaigns and hit pieces • "Cherry picking" information to support one side of a story • Anecdotal evidence instead of supported evidence |
Bias and Credibilty
Databases
PRO TIP: When searching for a term that contains more than one word, put it in quotation marks so the search engine looks for the topic exactly as is, as a single unit. e.g., "social media"
MLA 8 Citation
How to Format Your GoogleDoc for Works Cited Hanging Alignment