Starting Your Research

As you search, you should evaluate the sources you find. Books, articles, and websites are created by people with a wide range of opinions, education, and purposes for writing. You could also find sources that are outdated, inaccurate, or just not useful for your research.

There are many strategies for evaluating your sources, but one that we as librarians recommend is the RADAR Method. RADAR is an acronym that represents five criteria that should be on your radar as you read through a source. As you read sources, keep the following things in mind:

• Relevance: How is the source relevant to your topic? Think about how you would use this information.
  • Is it a source of background information? Does it contribute to or affect your argument and, if so, in what way? Does it support your argument? Refute your argument?
• Authority: How does the source establish its authority?
  • Who wrote the source? What tells you they are authoritative? What are their credentials? Is the source well-known or respected? Does the author draw authority from experience? 
  • Is other information available about them (e.g., from Google?) Does knowing the authority of the source help you make a judgment about the accuracy of the information? 
  • Even if you have doubts about the authority of the source, does it contain links to other authoritative or helpful sources? 
• Date: When was the source last updated or published? Is the publication date important to you?
  • Is the information outdated? Has later research or information affected or disproved this source? Does the source contain ideas or language that are no longer acceptable? Are there important dates that relate to your subject? 
• Appearance: How does the source present itself?
  • Are there advertisements? Is the information presented in a serious and professional way? Does the source have citations and references? 
  • How is the writing? Is it written in formal, academic language? Are there spelling errors or grammatical errors?
  • This one is a quick gut check—does the website look shady to you? 
    • Be careful, though! Appearance can be very easily faked, so keep an eye out and always get a second opinion if you’re unsure. Librarians are pretty good at this, so feel free to ask us!
• Reason: Why was this source written?
  • Was the source written to make an academic argument and/or add to the body of knowledge on a topic? Was it written as part of an ongoing debate, to counter an opposing claim?
  • Is it biased or propaganda?
    • Note: a biased or problematic site may still be useful to you; the key is to recognize its bias or limitations. 
  • Was the source written to sell something? Was it written to entertain? Or for some combination of these reasons?

There are many different kinds of sources we can use in our research.

Scholarly Sources

Peer-Reviewed Articles: found in scholarly journals, these articles are written to make an academic argument or report the results of a research study. The peer-review process involves experts in a given field vetting articles written by others in the field. Use these sources to demonstrate what scholars and experts in the field think about your topic.

Academic and Non-Fiction Books: usually written by academics, scholars, and experts. Academic books are usually published by academic publishers (like Routledge or Elsevier) or university presses (like the Yale University Press). Other non-fiction books are published by a wide range of publishers. Books of these types are written to make a very in-depth academic argument or to convey factual information. Academic books are often collections of articles on a topic and do not need to be read cover to cover. 

Popular Sources

News and Periodical Sources: created by journalists and media companies, these sources are found on news websites, and in newspapers or magazines. These sources can be found in print or online! They are to written to convey timely, public, or individual opinion about a topic. Many of these sources are vetted by fact-checkers and editors before publication, but not always.

Social Media and Commercial Websites: social media sources come from posts on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and blogs. Their content is user-generated. Commercial websites include most .com websites. They are written to convey public, corporate, or individual opinion about a topic. With context, these sources can give you up-to-date information and help you convey what real people think about your topic.

Data Sources

Data and Statistical Sources: data and statistics are often collected via research or polling. These results are then published on websites, in research studies, or as raw data. They are used to present factual and numerical information. 

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