J O Y C E A N N K I E V I T

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2 ENSURING RELIABLE RESEARCH To make sure that your online research is reliable, you need to select information from scholarly sources. Even if the information comes from a library database, an educational institution's site, or a non-profit organization's site, it may not qualify as scholarly. This information will help you learn to distinguish between scholarly sources and less reliable sources.

3 WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE? Scholarly sources are appropriate for most university research, whereas non-scholarly sources are appropriate for a more casual need to know. How can you tell one from another? To know whether a source is scholarly or non-scholarly, you will have to evaluate several of its characteristics.

4 Intended reader Writer Publisher Appearance

5 WHO IS THE PUBLISHER AND INTENDED READER? Writers for non-scholarly publications are usually professional writers. They do not have specialized knowledge, but they may interview those who do and simplify their knowledge for the general public. To determine the difference between a scholarly and nonscholarly publication, ask who published it. Scholarly publishers are usually not-for-profit organizations dedicated to the dissemination of objective research. Professional associations and university presses often publish scholarly works. Non-scholarly works are published by commercial publishers. Their editors choose what will appear in these publications based on popularity or ability to sell copies.

6 HOW DOES THE ARTICLE LOOK? Scholarly publications are usually plain, with text only. Look for extensive footnotes or end-of-text citations. If they contain any graphics, the graphics appear as charts, tables and graphs. If they contain any advertisements, they are geared to scholars and they announce professional books, journals or conferences. Non-scholarly works are usually much more appealing to the eye. Whether in print or on the Web, these publications can use color photographs, colored type and eye-catching layouts. There are rarely any notes or references in non-scholarly works. You will, however, find typical consumer advertising, such as for cars, clothes, electronics, detergent, toothpaste almost anything sold by a business to a consumer.

7 WHERE TO FIND SCHOLARLY SOURCES Scholarly publications can be found in print and on the Web. To find print sources, visit a college library. Most public libraries do not carry scholarly publications. You can also ask a professor, who probably subscribes to the journals in his or her field and owns important books. Scholarly publications can be found online in many of the same places as non-scholarly publications. To start, look for sites that end in.edu and.org. Eliminate.edu sites that are written by students or for classroom use. Eliminate.org sites with an agenda to persuade and not just to inform.

8 NON-SCHOLARLY INTERNET SOURCES INTERNET SOURCES TO AVOID Answersyahoo.com Factmonster.com Apples4theteacher.com History.com Ask.com IMDb.com Askville.amazon.com Infoplease.com Biography.com Timetoast.com BookRags.com Virtualology.com Ducksters.com Wikipedia.org

9 WHERE TO FIND SCHOLARLY SOURCES You can find both scholarly and non-scholarly sources through a search of EBSCOhost in the Colorado State University Global Online library. Once you have found your search results, be sure to limit them by checking the Scholarly/Peer reviewed checkbox in the upper right area of your search results screen. Finally, use Google Scholar to find appropriate scholarly sources on the Internet. From the main Google search page, select more. From the drop-down list, select Scholar. Then you can start entering your search terms.

10 SUMMARY: FINDING ONLINE SCHOLARLY SOURCES Search for.edu sites that are not written for the classroom or by a student. Search for.org sites that aim only to inform, not to persuade. Next, search EBSCOhost or other library search engines and then limit your search to Scholarly/Peer reviews sites. Finally, choose Google Scholar and then enter your search terms.