Critical Information Literacy

The authority and credibility evident in scholarly sources will contribute a great deal to the overall quality of your papers. The use of scholarly sources is an expected attribute of academic coursework.

When describing scholarly works consider: 

• The author's background, why was it important for the author to research this topic?
• Discuss how the primary research impacts the topic currently.
• How much is written about the research topic- conducting a literature review may be appropriate.
• How does the bias in the work impact future implications? Try offering suggestions to reduce biasedness. 

Using Information Ethically:

To use the work of others ethically, you will need to avoid plagiarizing by understanding how to quote, paraphrase, and cite the work of others. Even though information, words, and ideas are not concrete, they still can be stolen and those that do that can get into trouble. It is important to ethically use the resources you gather for your own project, paper, or research.

Using Information Legally: 

Use copyrighted material appropriately, i.e., according to copyright laws and restrictions.

Scholarly sources are usually authoritative, evidence-based, well-sourced, and as objective as possible. When properly written and published, they do not try to sell or promote anything, nor do they try to provoke an emotional reaction.

Before you write about an article, you need to understand it. However, do not plan to read a scholarly or scientific journal article the same way you would a book or a magazine article.

What is your research question? 

When you select an article to read for a project or class, focus on your topic. Look for information in the article that is relevant to your research question. 

Read the abstract first as it covers the basics of the article. Questions to consider: 

• What is this article about? What is the working hypothesis or thesis?
• Is this related to my question or area of research?

Second: Read the introduction and discussion/conclusion. These sections offer the main argument and hypothesis of the article. 

Questions to consider for the introduction: 

• What do we already know about this topic and what is left to discover?
• What have other people done in regards to this topic?
• How is this research unique?
• Will this tell me anything new related to my research question?

Questions for the discussion and conclusion: 

• What does the study mean and why is it important?
• What are the weaknesses in their argument?
• Is the conclusion valid?

Next: Read about the Methods/Methodology. If what you've read addresses your research question, this should be your next section. 

Questions to consider:

• How did the author do the research? Is it a qualitative or quantitative project?
• What data is the study based on?
• Could I repeat their work? Is all the information present in order to repeat it?

Finally: Read the Results and Analysis. Now read the details of this research. What did the researchers learn? If graphs and statistics are confusing, focus on the explanations around them.

Questions to consider: 

• What did the author find and how did they find it?
• Are the results presented in a factual and unbiased way?
• Does their analysis agree with the data presented?
• Is all the data present?
• What conclusions do you formulate from this data? (And does it match with the Author's conclusions?)

Review the References (anytime): These give credit to other scientists and researchers and show you the basis the authors used to develop their research.  The list of references, or works cited, should include all of the materials the authors used in the article. The references list can be a good way to identify additional sources of information on the topic.

Questions to ask:

• What other articles should I read?
• What other authors are respected in this field?
• What other research should I explore?