Finding and Evaluating Sources

Building a Strong Evidence Base

Source Types

• Scholarly sources: Peer-reviewed journals, academic books, conference papers


• Credible web sources: Government sites (.gov), educational institutions (.edu), established news organizations


• Primary sources: Original data, interviews, surveys, historical documents


• Grey literature: Reports, white papers, working papers (not peer-reviewed but often valuable)

Search Strategies

• Use Boolean operators: AND, OR, NOT to refine searches


• Use quotation marks for exact phrases: "climate change adaptation"


• Check reference lists of relevant papers for additional sources


• Set date filters for recent research


• Use subject-specific databases for your field

Evaluating Credibility

Check the author's credentials, the publication's reputation, the currency of the information, whether claims are supported by evidence, and whether there's potential bias.