Education Guide: Scholarly Resources

Different sources are useful for different purposes. Sources such as blogs and Wikipedia can give you background information and further links but may not be acceptable as a reference to support your assignment. The video below outlines what is meant by scholarly or peer reviewed. If you need to verify that a journal is peer reviewed you can use Ulrich's Periodicals Directory.

The CRAAP test had its origins in the US to help students successfully evaluate and find reliable information. The test has seen many variations but in general if something is CRAAP, that's a good thing!

Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia which often appears among the top results of any internet-based search. It can be a very useful tool to start your online research but your lecturers and teachers will not accept citations from Wikipedia in your assignments.

How to use Wikipedia

• get an overview of your topic: use the information and links from a Wikipedia entry to expand your general knowledge and learn new terminology
• expand your search terms: look at the bolded words, contents list and definitions to find synonyms and search terms for your library database research
• find original sources: use the bibliography list at the end of an entry to find further resources or verifications you can cite.

Why shouldn't you cite Wikipedia?

• reliabilty: Wikipedia's content is created by voluntary contributors with no formal review process, therefore there is no guarantee that the information is accurate.
• authority: contributors are not required to provide credentials or other information demonstrating their expertise on a given subject area; this compromises the credibility of the entries.
• bias: although Wikipedia works to maintain a neutral point of view, pages that have been recently edited or are controversial can be very biased.