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Evaluating Resources for your Research Assignments

What to consider when determining if a source is credible and relevant for your research topic

Is the Resource Relevant to Your Topic?

illustration of a target, one arrow points to the bullseye, one arrow points to the outer ring

Relevance

Consider if the resource helps to answer your research question.

Questions to ask yourself

  • Is the article too old to be relevant?  
  • Is the geographic location the same or similar to geographic location of my research topic?  
  • Does the scope of the resource match what I need for my topic? Is it too general or too in-depth? 
  • How does the resource help answer my research question? 
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