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Start Your Research

This guide will help you get started with your topic, find books and articles, evaluate sources, and use library services.

How to Evaluate Sources

Find Evidence

Identify evidence in the articles and books you find.

  • Go back to the original source of the information.

  • Find other, similar sources.

  • Do related sources agree? Does information differ?

These questions are starting points for judging the relevance and perspectives of the articles and books you find.

Evidence in Popular Sources

In popular sources look for links to supporting resources or mentions of studies, authors, or organizations. Be sure to follow up on these clues. What types of sources were referenced? Was information taken out of context? 

link to original study from a popular article

 

Evidence in Scholarly Sources

In scholarly sources, you'll find citations that will lead you to previous or related research. You can follow up on these clues as well. link to a study from a scholarly article

 

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