#Finding scientific information: Evaluating the references

How well does the search result meet your information needs?

Consider your own research problem or assignment.

Is the content appropriate for your research topic?

• Study the contents list, or skim the titles
• Read the preface, abstract, introduction, and the conclusion
• Study the references and the bibliographic information
• Find reviews

Who is the author? What backgound information does the author give about her/himself?

• The author or her/his background community are known

The author's credentials?

• Academic background, education, career, job experience, other publications

• Study the available information about the author
• Find information from biographic sources, e.g. name listings or directories and personal web-pages
• Find the author's other work from databases

The author's reputation in the scientific community?

• Citations and references in textbooks and lectures

• Look in, for example, Annual Reviews, the Web of Science or Scopus databases, or Google Scholar

Who is the publisher?

• Commercial publishing house, university, scientific association, official body etc.
• Values and objectives
• Speciality
• Editorial Board

• Check the publisher's homepages
• Check the editorial principles from the webpages of the jounal or the publisher.

What is the author's background organisation?

• The organisation's tasks, values and goals
• National or international
• Memberships and affiliations

• Check from the organisation's web-pages
• Check from different indices or directories

What kind of journal has published the work?

• Academic vs. popular publication
• Evaluation methods used (is peer review/referee -evaluation used? See for example Ulrich's Web)
• The level of Publication Forum Classification of the publication
• The journal's impact factor
• Facts or opinions
• Form of publication (book, article, report, web-pages etc.)
• Readership: who is the material directed towards? Is there a particular target group?

Is the information well presented and without errors?

• Sources are documented
• Methodology is explained
• Theories and issues that may nullify the main theses are also presented
• Questionable assumptions are avoided

• Check also the reliability and objectivity of the cited sources

Is the text coherent?

• Does the title correspond to the structure?
• Are the reviews similar?
• Logically analysed
• Main points are clearly presented
• Readable text without pointless repetition

Is the text graphically well presented?

• Images, tables and charts are clear, aptly named and understandable without without additional explanatory text

• Think about other possible ways of presentation

Is the language flawless?

• No printing, grammatical or spelling errors

• Read the text carefully

Have latest sources been used?

Compare the date of publication and the contents with the other sources that you have found.

Is the work compatible with other materials that you have read?
How does the data compare with other data from the same subject area and with what you already know about the topic?

Seek other points of view and observe the diversity of sources and ideas.

When was the study carried out and the work published?

Does your your topic require the latest information?

Information ages at different rates in different fields, therefore the age of sources used varies among different disciplines.

Are there revised editions of the source?

Look for other editions in the databases and library catalogues.