What are credible sources?
Even before looking into ways in which one can find credible sources, it is crucial to first understand what credible sources are in the context of research papers. They are sources of information that are correct, unbiased and have evidence to support the information provided. There are a number of ways that a student can get information for a given research paper. They mainly include books, articles, and websites. The information provided by these sources could be credible or not and as such it is important to know the characteristics of credible sources.
Elements of credible sources.
Authority- They must have been published by authors who have a good reputation in the given field and not just anyone. It is also good to look at the sponsors because if they have a good reputation then there is a high likelihood that the information presented is credible.
Accuracy- The information presented must be free of error. It must be accurate. Even some simple errors such as spelling and grammatical errors should not be there because otherwise, it would imply that the information was not proofread. In case the given article, book or website use information from other sources they must cite properly so that in case the audience want to verify they can do that easily.
Objectivity- The information presented should be presented with the least amount of prejudice. The author should look at the two sides of the issue being discussed and not favoring one side at the expense of the other. The information should be presented in a manner that is not meant to sway the audience into following a certain line of views.
Currency- The information presented in the book or article must be current. It should be information that was collected and published in recent years and not decades ago. It is no wonder that most of the instructors or lecturers give a time span of the sources to be used during the research.
The easiest and surest ways of getting sources that are credible.
Internet is the answer to getting credible information easily. However, for one to get credible information, it is advisable to use data contained in the following;
Books- They are regarded to be the most credible sources of information. It is because they contain information that is deep and has been well researched. For a book to be published there are a lot of reviews made on it to ensure that the information is credible and accurate thus ensuring that the people that use them get accurate information.
Government websites- When you google the information you are looking for in the search engine and results show up, it is important to look if there is a source that has been published in a government website. These websites contain the most accurate information that has gone through thorough research. The information is presented with minimum biases. Normally government websites have (.gov or .mil).
Learning institution websites- There are many websites owned by various universities in the world. The information contained in these websites is very accurate thus reliable. I mean, they are the headquarters of knowledge and as such, there is no way they would publish something that is unreliable. University websites normally end with (.edu). Before information is published in these websites it normally undergoes a lot of scrutinies to ensure that it is accurate.
Company websites- When looking for information about a given company, there is no better source of the information than the website of that given company. These websites give information in depth as the primary source. However, it is important to note that sometimes the information may be biased because most of the companies try to give only their good side of the story. It is therefore important to trend on any company website with cautious.
Websites of organizations- These are websites that end with (.org.). They mainly have credible information particularly if the organization is renowned and has a good reputation. Most of these organizations are run by professionals in various sectors such as medicine and thus the kind of information that they provide is professional also with the highest degree of credibility. However, it is important to note that some of the organizations may be biased when presenting the information with the aim of persuading or promoting a given agenda and therefore one should be on the lookout.
Google scholar/Peer-reviewed articles- It is the surest way to find out if the book or articles that one is using is credible. One can also use google scholar to find books and reviewed articles that contain the information that they are looking for. Google scholar even goes further to offer other related articles and books that could be of help to the researcher. There is also an indication of the number of times that various articles have been used thus enabling one to tell the articles that are likely to be more credible and reliable.
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