It is very tempting, particularly with an obscure topic, to simply type in the subject of a research paper into Google and press ‘click’ to access the first webpage available. However, depending on the type of research required, this can be a prescription for disaster. Most professors require the majority of articles used in their classes to be peer-reviewed. Peer-reviewed articles are subject to a formal, scholarly review process conducted by fellow academics. The best way to ensure that a source is peer-reviewed is to use an academic database like ProQuest or JSTOR and specifically filter the search to include scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles. Other clues as to whether an article is peer-reviewed is if it is published in a journal with a volume and issue number; has the academic credentials of the researcher in the biography provided; and has an abstract. Peer-reviewed articles almost always contain references to the work of other academics and the reference list follows the guidelines for a specific academic citation format (such as the MLA, APA, or Chicago style).

Some peer-reviewed articles are published online for free access, so finding one through Google does not automatically mean it is not peer-reviewed, but if you use a general search to obtain your research, be wary and make sure you know how to evaluate a source’s legitimacy. Additionally, not every article published in a scholarly journal is peer-reviewed—some of these journals also publish editorials, for example. And finally, simply because a source is not peer-reviewed does not necessarily mean it is ‘bad.’ For example, The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal are highly-respected newspapers of record which may contain vital contemporary information useful in a research paper but they are not-peer reviewed. However, if your professor specifies that your paper must contain a certain number of peer-reviewed articles, be aware of what type of sources you are using. And, unless specifically instructed to do so, never use Wikipedia. As fun is it is to read as a brief overview of various topics, Wikipedia is created by ‘crowdsourcing’ which means it is not subject to either the scrutiny of academics or of professional editors.