In college, students are asked to research and find credible, scholarly sources for academic writing. Finding credible sources can be challenging when you don’t find the results you are looking for. It is easy to revert back to using Wikipedia to get instant answers. Wikipedia is not a reliable search engine because of the ability for anyone to edit and add anything. The module talks about the difference between searching and researching when trying to find sources. Searching includes taking regular questions and finding a right or wrong answer to them. Researching includes research questions where there is no right or wrong answer. It is more of an exploration in seeing what one can find and it is constantly changing. Researching seeks to understand the why and how we pick and site sources. When finding sources, be sure to check for three important things. The first is the reliability of the source. This means that the author or authors should have credentials (PhD, MS, Dr, etc.). Be sure to check the organization or publisher to be sure that it is going to be quality information. The second thing to check for is the quality of the source. Is the information being presented up to date and is it specific? An article might have good information but it could be out of date. Also, check if it is free of biases and that it is well written. The third thing to check for is the utility of the source. Make sure that the information is related to the topic you are researching and that it is appropriate to the audience that you are writing for. I use these three ideas when finding the credibility of sources and it helps me tremendously because I know that the information I am receiving is factual and reviewed. It is essential to understand the importance of finding good sources to back up arguments in academic writing.
http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky-Search_vs_Research-01.pdf