Whether searching the Library catalogue, the internet or the subscription databases provided by the
Library you will retrieve a wide variety of types of sources.
These sources may include:
- Peer reviewed research
- Consumer information
- Systematic reviews
- Case studies
- Advertorials
- Newspaper articles
- Opinion pieces
Some sources may be useful for your general understanding (a dictionary definition or opinion piece) or for finding out what is going on in your profession, but will not be acceptable as evidence that you had a good grasp of the health field literature.
The following are things you should pay special attention to.
Validity: is it true and accurate? What about bias?
This can be the most difficult to establish, which is why as a student you need to be confident of the Authority and Affiliation. Sometimes information is simply copied without fact checking, which is why you need to be particularly careful of sources aimed at the general public.
What evidence is provided to support the conclusions? If it is a study, was the study big enough for the conclusions made?
Studies range from simple case studies to systematic and meta analysis reviews, which look at all of the existing published studies on a clinical question and attempt to make observations and recommendations based on the data.
Authority: who is the author? Are details of their qualifications, expertise and affiliations clearly available? Has it been peer reviewed? Peer reviewing is when an expert panel verifies the article is of sufficient quality and interest as to be worthy of publication.
Affiliation: what institution (company, government body, university etc) is backing the author? Is it published by a reputable source?
Purpose and objectivity: what is this source trying to do? Is it to inform, to explain, to persuade or sell something?
Audience: who is the intended audience? Is it aimed at the expert or the novice, consumer, practitioner or researcher?
Currency: is an old answer still true? Does the information contain the latest theories, details?
Uniqueness: what does this offer compared to other resources? Is it simply copying information better supplied elsewhere? Should you attempt to locate the original study?
When you have completed reading this page go to the next section on referencing.