The Importance of Research..

Research is defined by Western Sydney University, as the creation of new knowledge and/or the use of existing knowledge in a new and creative way so as to generate new concepts, methodologies and understandings. This could include synthesis and analysis of previous research to the extent that it leads to new and creative outcomes (Western Sydney University, 2020).

Research is essential in almost every field, such as economy, medicine and even art. Research can expand your knowledge and help you apply this knowledge on practical work. Although the research process varies depending on the subject, all research aims to inform, create and develop ideas. In medicine for example, research is vital to discover and create treatments and this is derived from existing concepts of biology or chemistry. Art, on the other hand, might look at the work of other artists to learn the methodologies. 

In academic research, it is important to gather as many sources as possible to analyze different perspectives and not accept or rely on just 1 source. Students should be critical and question the information they find. 

How to tell whether a source on the web is reliable or not?

According to GeorgeTown University Library (2020), students should check for authors, purpose, accuracy/objectivity and time.

Questions students should ask themselves to check reliability:

Who is the author? is he/her qualified for the topic?

Who is the intended audience? Check if the source contains bias- sources with bias are not reliable.

 Is the information up to date?

The University of Maryland (2020) points out that should also check for supporting evidence as this makes a source reliable.

Website Domains:

.gov  -government website

.edu or. ac  -universities, colleges (educational institutions) 

.org   - organization

.com   -company 

Both The University of Maryland (2020) and The University of Wisconsin (2020) state that government and university websites are often reliable, however students should still check credibility and authority. While .org websites might be biased and have a particular agenda. in addition, The University of Maryland (2020) reports that .com websites try to promote and might contain bias. 

Referencing sources is extremely important to avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is the act of using someone else's work, ideas or phrases and using them as your own. Plagiarism is an academic offense that might result in expulsion from universities, therefore students should learn to cite, reference and paraphrase properly.

Sources:

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY (2020) Evaluating Internet Resources. [Online] GeorgeTown University. Available from: https://www.library.georgetown.edu/tutorials/research-guides/evaluating-internet-content [Accessed 27/07/20].

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND (2020) Is My Source Credible?. [Online] University of Maryland. Available from: https://sites.umgc.edu/library/libhow/credibility.cfm [Accessed 27/07/20].

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN (2020) Security- How Can I Tell if a Website is Credible?. [Online] University of Wisconsin. Available from: https://uknowit.uwgb.edu/page.php?id=30276 [Accessed 27/07/20].

WESTERN SYDNEY UNIVERSITY (2020) Definition of Research. [Online] Western Sydney University. Available from:https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/research/researchers/preparing_a_grant_application/dest_definition_of_research [Accessed 27/06/20].