Library:Library Research Skills For Land and Food Systems/Module 02C/Page 05

Evaluation tools

Here are a few examples of tools you can use to learn more about your information source. Ulrichsweb Try a search in Ulrich's Periodicals Directory. This is a directory of popular and scholarly magazines and journals. Look up the magazine or journal title you are considering and scroll to Content Type to see if it is Academic (Scholarly) or Consumer (Popular). As discussed earlier, this gives you an indication of why this information was created and can help you to critically consider whether you wish it as a source for your paper. Web of Science Web of Science shows the number of times that an article has been cited by other papers. This is one indicator of whether an information source is being consulted and referenced by the scholarly community. (See also Google Scholar's Cited References) Journal Citation Reports This tool is used to search for the impact factor of journals. It is one method of assessing sources by the scholarly community's use of the particular research to further the scholarly conversation on this topic. For more help using any of these tools, consult Your Librarian.