We are blessed with a great resource and we c all it the Internet. But due to the fact that the Internet is a public forum, expect other people to put in their own claims and assertions there. It is now your responsibility, as a researcher, to make sure that the data and information that you will get from the internet is valid. How do you do that?
Checking the validity of data and information found on the Internet entails checking whether the source is credible or not. Listed below are some ways by which you can investigate your sources:
Author
The rule of thumb is to stay clear of internet information that doesn’t list an author. In the first place, how are you going to assert the authority of the source of the information to give out data when you don’t know where the information came from? Therefore knowing the author and his or her credentials is important. Verify educational credits and background of expertise.
URL
You can check where the information you have is linked to by looking at the URL ending. If the name of the site ends with .edu, then it is linked to an educational institution. If it ends in .gov, it is linked to a government site. If it ends in .org, it is most probably linked to a non-profit organization.
Online journals
When using online journals or magazines as sources, make sure that it makes use of an extensive bibliography. The sources found in its bibliography must be scholarly sources.
News sources
News websites are not uncommon to the television and print media so these sites can be credible to a certain extent. Remember, though, that even media outlets have their own biases, so do not rely solely on news sources.
Whether it is for academic purposes or for career pursuits, we always have to do research to back up our claims. But even so, remind yourself that the use of the Internet as a research tool should be done with care. Always check the sources and make sure that it is credible, otherwise the results of the research you are conducting may not be as precise as it should be
