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Research Skills Notes

Learn how to effectively evaluate, incorporate, and credit sources in your research work to avoid plagiarism and enhance the quality of your paper. Discover the CRAP Test, citation methods, and formatting tips.

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Research Skills Notes

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  1. Research Skills Notes

  2. Sources • A primary source is an original, firsthand account. • Examples: • Autobiography • Eyewitness testimony • Letters • Speeches • Interviews

  3. Sources • A secondary source is a secondhand account from someone who was not directly involved in the events he or she has written about. • Examples: • Biography • Encyclopedias • Magazine articles • Textbooks

  4. Evaluating Sources • To decide if a source is good to use in your paper, use the CRAP Test and ask the following questions:

  5. Currency • When was it written or updated? • Is the information current enough for your topic?

  6. Reliability • Are there references given for information on the site? • Is the content primarily fact or opinion? • Is the information balanced or biased?

  7. Authority • Who wrote it? • Who is the publisher or sponsor? • Is there evidence that the author or organization is an expert on this subject?

  8. Purpose/Point of View • What is the purpose of the site? (information, persuasion, advertisement, etc.) • What is the website domain extension? • .gov = government • .edu = education (universities/colleges/schools) • .org = organization (often non-profit) • .com & .net = commercial (sales, business networks) • Who is the intended audience?

  9. Incorporating Ideas From Research • There are three ways to incorporate the ideas of other writers into your work, but all three require that you give credit to (cite) your source: • direct quotation – use quotation marks to indicate the exact words • paraphrase – restate the author’s ideas in your own words • summary – state the author’s main idea

  10. Avoiding Plagiarism • When conducting research, you must be careful to give credit for any ideas that are not your own. • Presenting someone else’s ideas, research, or opinion as your own is plagiarism, the equivalent of academic stealing, or fraud. • When you choose to use someone else’s ideas or work to support your view, be sure to credit (cite) the material.

  11. Crediting Sources • When you credit a source, you acknowledge where you found your information and give your readers the details necessary for locating the source themselves. • A bibliography provides a listing of all the resources you consulted during your research. • A works cited list includes the sources you have referenced in your paper.

  12. Formatting Works Cited List • In high school, we used MLA formatting for papers and citations. • The Works Cited list is the last page of a research paper or slide of a powerpoint. • Each entry in the Works Cited list represents a separate source you used in your research. • Entries in a Works Cited list are listed in alphabetical order. • Try using http://citationmachine.net/ to format your citations.

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