Evaluating Information - FSHN 381 - Experimental Foods - Research Guides at University of Hawaii at Manoa

Evaluating Websites

How do I determine if a website is credible or not?

Anyone with Internet access can publish a website and disseminate information online. When you are determining how or if you should use a specific website in your work, you should evaluate the website using the following criteria:

Currency

How recent is the information?
How recently has the website been updated?
Is the information current enough for your topic?

Accuracy

Can the data be verified by other sources?
Does the author have an obvious bias?

Authorship

Is the author identified?
What are the author’s credentials?

Audience

Who is the site intended for? Scholars? Professionals? Students?

Coverage

Does the site state its intended scope?
Is it designed to cover an entire subject or to give detailed information on one aspect of the subject?

Relative Value

How does it compare to other sources of similar information?
Are there other more accurate or complete sources?

Scholarly vs. Popular Resources

In academic research, it is important to distinguish between scholarly and popular (non-scholarly) sources. While one can argue the value of both, the scholarly sources are the ones that are usually preferred when doing academic research.

The following is a table comparing the general features of these two types of sources:

	Scholarly Sources	Popular Sources
Contents	• In-Depth, Original Research • Usually undergoes peer-review process (see Peer Review for more)	• Current Events, Popular Topics, Interviews
Authors	• Experts in the Field (e.g., professors, researchers, etc.) • Experts in the subject they are writing about.	• Journalists or Freelance Writers • May or may not be subject experts in what they are writing about.
Writing Level	• Technical language that assumes some level of college education.	• Simple language
Works Cited	• Almost always has some kind of Works Cited or Reference list to back up what they are writing.	• Rarely documents sources used.
Examples	• JAMA • Journal of Food Sciences	• New Scientist • Honolulu Star-Advertiser

How to Read a Paper

Series in the British Medical Journal on reading different types of papers:

Interactive Tutorial:
How to Read a Scientific Paper
Interactive tutorial describing the characteristics of a scholarly paper. From Purdue University Libraries.

More:
How to read a scholarly article
Brief guide discussing article structure and reading strategy. From Kapi'olani Community College Library.
How to Read a Scientific Article by Mary Purugganan and Jan Hewitt (Rice University)
6-page article from Cain Project in Engineering and Professional Communication (pdf)

Primary & Secondary Resources

What is a primary source?

Primary sources are original materials. These sources are from the time period involved and have not been filtered through interpretation or evaluation. They are materials on which other research is based. Primary sources represent original thinking, report a discovery, or share new information. Some types of primary sources in the sciences include:

Original research studies/journal articles that contain methods, materials, and results sections describing an experiment or observation performed by the authors.

Patents

Proceedings of Meetings/Conferences

Records of Organizations/Government Agencies (Annual reports, treaties, Environmental Impact Statements, etc.)

Newspaper articles written at the time.

What is a secondary source?

A secondary source interprets and analyzes primary sources. These sources are usually one or more steps removed from the event. Secondary sources may have pictures, quotes or graphics of primary sources in them. Some types of secondary sources include:

PUBLICATIONS: Textbooks, magazine articles, histories, criticisms, commentaries, encyclopedias, reviews.

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