Beyond the Basics: The Research Process at UCBA

Reading and understanding academic sources (ex: scholarly journal articles) can be a challenging part of the research process. The Anatomy of a Scholarly Article video (3:12 minutes) provides strategies for reading scholarly articles. The Reading Scholarly Articles handouts (Word file links) outline the structure of a scholarly article within different disciplines. Note: If you decide the article you've found is relevant to your research question then carefully read each section of the article and take notes.

The information ecosystem is complex and you'll likely encounter a variety of sources when working on research for an assignment. And there isn't a checklist that decides if a source of information is credible. This means it's really important to evaluate the potential source to determine if it's accurate, trustworthy, reliable, or even appropriate for your information needs. The process of evaluating includes fact checking, asking questions, carefully reading, listening, or viewing the source, and searching for more information. And remember that the information needs to be situated in the context of the research topic or question. 

Start by asking questions to help you determine if a source will fit your needs:

• How will you use this source in your research assignment?
• What value does this source add to your research assignment?
• Does the information relate to your research topic and/or answer some aspect of your research question?