Where Can I Find Reliable Sources For a Research Paper

Finding credible sources for a research paper can sometimes be a difficult task. Academic writing research papers require extensive background knowledge. It’s frequently a good idea to start your study with popular search engines like Google and generic descriptions like you may find on Wikipedia. Though frequently you don’t want to use these in your work.  With so much information on the internet, it may often be difficult to tell which sources are credible and which ones are not. Fortunately, there are some simple guidelines in this blog that you can follow to ensure that you consistently use reliable sources when conducting research.

What is Research Paper?

A research paper is an academic writing task that includes original research on a particular subject consisting of numerous varieties of research papers, from term papers for high school to master’s theses and doctorate dissertations.

Some reliable sources that are relevant to your research paper

Obtaining a reliable source for your research might be very difficult given the vast information available nowadays, especially if you’re still an undergraduate with little experience finding reliable research papers. Since background research forms the basis of your paper, you should create a research paper outline to more efficiently allocate your time to gathering data for each component of your work.

But don’t worry; we’ve compiled a list of trustworthy organizations, websites, and sources that you can use to find accurate background material for your paper.

• Government entities: Government publications on papers, information, and claims are closely controlled by experts within the relevant department. Since they are strictly regulated by specialists, it is safe to use these credible sources as primary sources.
• Periodicals: When it comes to relevancy and credibility, there is no better source than reputable news portals. Journals, magazines, and newspaper articles are examples of popular forms of periodicals. That is not to say that you should believe everything you read on the news. You must still cross-reference other credible sources to determine whether the facts are consistent and accurate.
• Libraries and databases: Academic libraries and databases are accessible both free and paid. These resources are 100 percent trustworthy and always provide a bibliography that details the author’s background and experience. JSTOR, Google Scholar, IEEE Xplore, PubMed Central, and ScienceDirect are the most widely used and reliable academic libraries and databases for finding information in books, papers, and other documents.
• Professional Standards Associations: Professional Expectations Organizations are excellent sources for terminology and requirements in a specific country. Currently, almost every country has these designated as officials to assist users in accessing verified information.
• Academia: With over 180 million users, Academia is another well-known website for finding credible sources for a research paper that you may use for free. It contains more than 35 million scholarly papers from a spectrum of fields, including history, science, and medicine.
• Google Scholar: Google Scholar is an online database given by google on which you can search academic articles published worldwide on the internet. It combines credible sources from different fields and presentation types, such as articles, theses, books, dissertations, and court decisions.
• Newspaper Indexes: Newspaper indexes are an excellent source of historical data for research studies. The Names, dates, topics, drawings, and other significant information from a newspaper or collection of newspapers are included in these indexes. Similar data and information are organized to help readers, authors, and students find and quickly access the precise facts they require.
• Reference Books: Reference books are also one of the measure credible sources that provide further information about a specified topic. It can be found in the lists of references in other books, websites, and on other reputable sites that have offered citations for the material presented.

How Will I Know If My Source Is Credible?

The success of your research paper, thesis, dissertation, or other academic work depends on your ability to determine whether or not a source is reliable and appropriate for use in your work. We discussed this in our post on “Where Can I Find Reliable Sources For a Research Paper.” 

• Specialist Author: The author must be an expert on the topic. Generally, the article will include the author’s educational background and affiliated organization.
• Author Impartiality: The author’s intention to instruct, educate, and explain should be clear. Facts from various sources should be correctly cited in order to support the author’s views.
• Excellent Content: The author’s content should be logically organized and relevant to the topic at hand. Furthermore, the article must be properly written and free of grammar and spelling errors.
• Reputable Academic Journal: The paper you’re citing should have been published by an academic or peer-reviewed press, a university press, or both.
• Peer Reviews: Experts in the author’s field of study should review the work.

Tips for Finding Good Sources for Your Researched Paper

The following are some tips for moving on from this initial study to finding “excellent” sources.

• Start with Making a list of research terms so you can use it when searching in the library or online. Start with your primary list and then add any other words or phrases you come across while conducting research.
• Consider the kind of sources the assignment requires and the types of sources that are “excellent” for your inquiry or topic. 
• Review the sources that have already been useful’s works cited or bibliography sections. You’ll benefit from the sources they’re using as well. It is advised to use as many different sourcing types as you can and review them to make a research report versatile and reliable.
• The librarians in UK libraries can help you with your research. You can schedule meetings with them they may assist you in determining which sources might be most beneficial, locating the most beneficial databases, and more. The library is an excellent place to find published data and has a large selection of reliable books and editions that can be used for research on classic subjects or those that don’t require current information. 
• A decent rule to follow is to provide at least one source of information per page to support the written information. The exact number will depend on the professor and may change from one assignment to the next.

Avoid These Sources When Researching

It’s crucial to know which sources to avoid in addition to discovering quality ones to use in research papers. You should have more than enough references to finish your research paper with the trustworthy sources we’ve given above. A few key factors, like the author’s background and credentials, the publishing date, and whether the piece was subjected to peer review, are relevant when trying to identify fact-checked information. Not every website, newspaper, magazine, or another source can give students these kinds of information that enable them to decide whether or not the information may be used in a research report.

When searching for sources for a research paper, you need to stay away from the following places:

• Social Media: The global problem known as “fake news,” which disseminates inaccurate information about recent and previous events, is used by social media and linked websites. Despite being entertaining, social media cannot be relied upon to provide accurate material for your research project.
• Blogs: These days, anyone with a computer or smartphone may start a blog and post unreliable material; as a result, this “source” should not be taken into account when conducting research for an academic article.
• Wikipedia: Wikipedia is another user-generated encyclopedia that depends on contributors from a variety of backgrounds, most of whom are not recognized, subject-matter experts. These websites frequently run the risk of being inaccurate and are not among the most reliable and credible sources for research.
• Outdated and unreliable sources: When performing research, outdated sources, particularly books, might become obsolete, which is the same as being untrustworthy, and cannot be used for academic reasons.

Conclusion

These methods will assist you in locating the sources you require for your paper. It makes sense that you would only want to employ credible sources for research papers because they can affect the quality and accuracy of your work. Even if there is a lot of false information in the modern digital age, there are still trustworthy sources that you can rely on.

We hope that this article will assist you in locating reliable websites and materials for your research paper.