The Research Process

Click here to navigate to the CEHS Library Research Guidelines Website

This book has detailed information on things like:

  • Topic selection

  • Source selection and citation

  • Avoiding plagiarism

  • Note taking, paraphrasing and summarizing

  • Using quotations

  • Outlining

  • Writing and revision help

  • Presentations

  • … and more!

Evaluating information you find online:

When you are looking for information online don't take the information you are learning as fact.

Take a moment when you find new information and check to see if these claims are verified anywhere else. Open a new window or tab and perform a new search with information you have gathered. Can this information be validated by other sources?

When researching online ask yourself these questions:

  • Who wrote this? Why are they qualified to present information on this topic? Is this a personal page or does it belong to a larger organization?

  • Why would someone want this information available online?

  • What are the motives of the author, sponsor or the publisher of this information?

  • Are there signs of bias?

  • Is the information current?

  • Can the information (including quotations and statistics) be verified by other sources?

  • When in doubt look for a different website

  • Keep in mind that search terms matter. Each set of keywords will bring up a different set of search results, change your search if you need to

Keep an eye out for misleading websites like highly partisan news, clickbait and satire

A list of a few Non-partisan Fact Checking Sites