Evaluating…Articles

Most of the same questions we asked about books also apply to articles. Plus there are a few extra issues you might consider.

Here is an article that you might have found in your search on global warming.

What can we tell about this article?

Purpose

We can tell a lot about this article just from the description.

By reading the title and abstract, we see that the article talks about various species of animals and plants that are being affected by global warming.

BUT, the article is not really about other aspects of global warming. If you were interested in the causes of global warming, this article might not interest you.

On the other hand, if you are researching possible harmful effects of global warming, then this article DOES relate to that!

Here is a key point to remember: An article may be good for one research topic, but not for another.

Authority …of the periodical

We might be able to tell more about the article by the journal or magazine it is in.

For example, our article on endangered animals was in the magazine Time.

Time is a general, popular magazine. The article may be interesting and present good information, but it is not from a professional or scholarly journal (these are journals written by and for professional researchers in a field).

Now look at this next article…

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