Understanding a Study
The Study Design 101 is design to help you understand the different kinds of studies and each studies strengths and weaknesses.
Guide to Critical Appraisal Resources
Critical Appraisal of Research Articles
Is it Peer-Reviewed?
A peer reviewed journal is one in which articles are submitted to researchers who are experts in the field and its content and references are evaluated for accuracy before they are published.
Peer-reviewed journals will have the following:
- Abstract at the beginning of the article
- Author(s) identity and affilation
- References at the end of the article
- Ulrich's Periodicals DirectoryUse Ulrichs to help verify if a journal is scholarly and peer-reviewed.
Types of Research Articles
Web site: Look at the URL
Before using a web site look at the URL (web address) to identify the producer of the web site, and its purpose.
Look at the last final syllable in the domain name to evaluate who produced the site:
.gov = Government agency
.net = Internet Service Provider
.com = Commercial site
.edu = Higher education
.mil= Military site
.~ = ("tilde") Personal
.org = Organization
- Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to AskTechniques on evaluating web pages skillfully by U.C. Berkley
- MedlinePlus Guide to Healthy Web SurfingMedlinePlus tips on how to evaluate the quality of health information on Web sites.
