Video Transcripts : How do I evaluate articles and journals?

Have you located an article or journal but you're not sure if they're appropriate for your research project? This video will help you learn which questions to ask to evaluate these types of sources effectively.

How do I evaluate articles and journals? Title Slide

When evaluating an article or journal, ask six key questions: What? Who? Why? When? Where? And how? These questions provide a framework for evaluating articles and journals. Your answers to these questions will help you identify when a source is not a good choice for your project so you can move on to evaluating other options. However, you might not need to answer every question for every article. For example, a recent publication date matters less in some disciplines than others.

One reason for asking these six questions about each source is to consider bias. All people have innate biases. While scholars do their best to minimize it, it is important to think more about who the author is and why they chose to write about this topic, or why a particular journal chose to publish it. While resources you find through library databases are often a better option than the open Web, it is still crucial to evaluate every source you're considering using in your research.

First ask what? What is the subject of the article? Does it appear relevant to your topic or research question? Does it seem like it will add to your understanding of your topic or provide a new perspective? Will it cover the topic in enough detail or depth for your research needs?

You can generally find the subject by looking at the article's abstract. You can find the abstract in the description field in Scholar OneSearch. You can also find it listed in the abstract section in the article's full text.

ScholarOne Search item for Corporate Governance and Supplemental Environmental Projects: A Restorative Justice Approach. Description is highlighted. 

Screenshare of the article information in another database.

Next, ask who? Who wrote the article? What are their credentials and affiliations? Do they establish the author as an expert on your topic?

You can sometimes find author credentials listed in the article itself. If you don't see the credentials in the article, you may need to do a Google Scholar search for the author. Through this search, you can learn about where they are employed, their area of research, other pieces they have written and their educational background and experience. Here we can see that Christian B.N. Gade works at Aarhus University and publishes and is cited frequently on issues related to South Africa and restorative justice.

Example source "Is restorative justice punishment?" by Christian B. N. Gade. First page of article shown. 

Google Scholar profile for Christian B. N. Gade shown. 

Then ask why? What is the purpose of the article? Is it presenting research, reviewing the literature, or making an argument? If the research was funded, who funded it and what might their motivations be for funding it?

If you are not sure, you can look in the article's abstract to find this information. In this example, the abstract notes that the authors are reporting results of research conducted with North Carolina charter school directors. You should check the article's reference list to see if the authors cite multiple perspectives and also check the types of sources the authors use to cite those perspectives. Watch out for articles that make arguments without providing authoritative references.

Then ask when? When was the article published? Is the publication date recent enough for your research needs? Fields that change quickly, like medicine or technology typically require more recent sources.

You can usually find the publication date in your results list in Scholar OneSearch. You may also find it on the first page of the article. In this example, the publication date is 2021. This publication date would be recent enough for a social sciences research project.

Next, ask where? Where was the article published? Was it published in a peer reviewed scholarly journal or other authoritative source?

You can generally find the journal title listed below the article title in Scholar OneSearch. In this example, the Journal title is Conflict Resolution Quarterly. Then you can check the journal's website to learn more about its focus and the types of materials it publishes. You can also view the scholarly sources tutorials for information on how to check the journal status.

Finally ask how how have the authors conducted their research or made their arguments? Do they describe their research methods and cite appropriate sources?

You can find this information in sections of the article devoted to methods or data sources. In this example, the authors explain that they are analyzing administrative data from the Texas Education Research Center, Texas Education Agency, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and Texas Workforce Commission.