Skip to Main Content

BIOL 123 - Kuster - Penn Valley: Evaluating Articles

A library guide to help students find sources related to their microbiology research assignment.

Questions to Ask When Considering a Resource

Not all published research is good research, and not all research is the same! Rigor, breadth, depth, currency, and bias ALL matter.

To evaluate research, start by asking these questions:

  • Who is the author? What is their expertise within the area? Does the author have known biases? 
  • Who is the publisher?  Is this a respected publication within the academic discipline? Does the publisher have known biases? 
  • What is the research methodology? Is it well structured? Appropriate?
  • Do the conclusions reached by the author/s make sense? 
  • Has the research gone through the peer-review process?
  • Is the research (and writing) recent enough? 

Hierarchy of Scientific Evidence

To Use: Read your chosen article, note the methodology, and use the image below to gauge the strength of your chosen evidence. 

Strength of research is relative and situational! (example: Meta-analyses and systemic reviews are the strongest scientific evidence, but that doesn't mean that *your* paper needs them every time to be a valid research paper.)

Choose the evidence that fits your research and writing the best.  

 

***