Evaluating Credible Sources for Research Papers - Essay Sample

Introduction

In any research paper, one requires to have credible sources to get the best results. Several considerations are used in evaluating the validity of a source. They should be recent, especially if the issue under research has changed (Elmwood, 2018). The older sources may not cover recent developments in the field of study. Besides, they should be relevant to the topic. They have to relate to the question and should offer details about the source (Elmwood, 2018). The sources should also be authored by a reputable person or organization. It helps in avoiding errors that are committed by new or amateur researchers. They should be accurate and concise to the point to avoid unnecessary diversions. Finally, the aim of the article is a determinant whether or not the research paper will be helpful (Elmwood, 2018). This paper analyses a sample paper using the criteria explained above. The title of the source is Important Health Facts about Shingles.

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The article is not peer-reviewed. A peer-reviewed article is one which has been read and confirmed by several experts in the sector (NCU Library, 2019). Peer-reviewed material is more viable and has fewer chances of giving false information. It is also scrutinized and corrected for grammatical and content errors. The people who reread the article before it is published may even improve it by adding content to it, which makes it a better resource.

Furthermore, the article has no references to the external sources of data. In many cases, the researcher may need to do further research on the material and confirm if the information contained in a paper is accurate. One may also require to clarify some unclear data from the external sources. In the case sample above, one cannot find out the correct means that the author used.

Finally, the article is not authored by a renowned author or organization. Examples of organizations that provide very reliable information in the healthcare sector include The World Health Organization, The Red Cross, and major hospitals such as John Hopkins. Most of the Universities also have portals where the people can gain information about a particular topic. The sources are reputable since they are known to specialize in medicine and Nursing. Most of the details that they give are based on experiences and research done by the experts. The article, in this case, is written by a doctor who is not well known, and not linked to a particular famous organization. From that, the source may not be very credible.

An example of a quality resource on the same topic is Shingles. In Top 50 Dermatology Case Studies for Primary Care (Riech, Psomadakis & Buka, 2017). The article is scholarly and peer-reviewed. It is also recent and relative to the topic under discussion. It is available on Google Scholar- a site which contains many academic research and peer-reviewed articles.

References

Elmwood, V. (2018). What the CRAAP? Comparing Approaches to Teaching Web Evaluation in FYE Programs. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gaintlit/2018/2018/65/

NCU Libraries. (2019). LibGuides: Research Process: Scholarly and Peer-Reviewed Journals. Retrieved 29 September 2019, from https://ncu.libguides.com/researchprocess/scholarlyjournals

Reich, D., Psomadakis, C. E., & Buka, B. (2017). Shingles. In Top 50 Dermatology Case Studies for Primary Care (pp. 281-287). Springer, Cham. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-18627-6_42