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Knowing how to do Internet research is a necessity in today’s world, for adults and kids. But, knowing how to do good research on the internet is key to being informed and educated about the topic that’s sparked out interest. The last thing we need is to spout off false information to our parents, peers, professors, or teachers. That’s not something that typically goes well.
This guide will clear up a lot of your questions about how to do Internet research and also keep you out of trouble by avoiding plagiarism and citing your research sources.
Conducting research effectively and responsibly ensures the information you find is reliable and accurate. We’re going to look at some tips and tricks to help you be a successful online researcher.
Points to Consider for Finding Reliable & Credible Information While Doing Internet Research
Authority
Is the author or creator an expert in the field you’re researching?
Expertise can vary as do fields of study. Just be sure the information you’re gathering can be confirmed and backed up with documentation. An example would be a zoologist with a specialty, like an ichthyologist. That’s someone that deals with fish. An article written by an ichthyologist would may more weight than an article written by a marine biologist veterinarian when researching Clownfish.
What are the author’s or creator’s credentials?
Credentials will also vary. For example, I’m a homeschool mom. Do I know a lot about homeschool? Yes. Am I an expert? No, I’m not. Do I know enough to speak intelligently with other parents wishing to homeschool their children? With 13 years under my belt, boy, do I. I don’t need a degree to tell me that. I have life and homeschooling experience… lots of it.
What organization is the author affiliated with?
If someone is affiliated with a big-name corporation or organization, one would think they earned the right to be there. Again, be safe and back up information with documentation or sources.
Accuracy
While you’re checking on the documentation we talked about in the “Authority” section above, make sure you check said documentation to make sure it’s supported by evidence and facts.
It cannot be stressed enough that you should always check to be sure you are reporting facts and evidence, not something someone thinks is true. Maybe even check more than one source to confirm the idea about the topic you’re studying is universally accepted.
All information should be free from biases, errors, or distortions.
Objectivity
Good research is free from personal opinions, emotions, and agendas. If an article seems to lean in one direction, or toward one belief, the author isn’t conveying a good balanced nor unbiased view.
Currency
Is the information up-to-date?
Sometimes it can be difficult to tell. Here’s an article to help you with that.
Relevance
Stay on topic.
Make sure the information fits your purpose and is relevant to your search. Straying too far from your original study topic can confuse your reader unless it’s directly tied to your topic.
6 Tips for Researching Information Effectively on the Internet
These six tips will help you learn how to do good research on the Internet.
Use specific keywords.
If you were searching for information about stingrays, you wouldn’t search for “ocean life.” You’d need to be more specific.
Along the same train of thought, you might search for “life cycle of stingrays” or “stingray habitat,” depending on what type of research you’re doing.
For how-to projects, that’s what you would search. For example, “how to keep deer out of your garden” or “how to spend less time weeding the garden.” The more specific you can be with your query, or questions, the less time you’ll spend finding the answers you’re looking for.
Advanced search options can refine your results.
• On the Google Chrome browser, when you search for a topic, there are certain buttons at the top of the page under the search bar. When I search for “stingray habitats,” those buttons include, images, shopping, videos, for kids, animals, facts, news, and maps. I encourage you to explore these settings on your own to get a good feel for what you’ll find when using them.
Evaluate the credibility and relevance of the sources you find.
• We’ve already talked a little about credibility, so I won’t beat that point to death. However, relevance is important to staying on track. Make sure your facts are relevant to your topic and align with the message you’re trying to send to your reader.
Verify information with multiple sources to get a well-rounded perspective.
• No matter your topic of study always verify with more than one source.
• Just a suggestion, but if you’re gathering opinions about your topic, be sure to gather opinions from both sides and keep yourself, as the author, neutral.
Organize your notes and findings for easy reference.
• There are multiple ways you can do this – note cards, apps, project management software, etc. More on that in a minute.
Don’t devote yourself wholly to one way of searching, adjust your strategy if needed.
• You may not be able to search one topic and find everything you’re looking for. It may be necessary to break the larger topic into smaller ones when you can’t find enough information by searching the broader topic. Let’s go back to the stingray example. When I simply searched “stingrays,” I was presented with a Wikipedia article, several others with a broader approach to what a stingray was, one article about a piece of police surveillance equipment, and information about a sports team. So, I clicked on the other articles with broader approaches about the actual creature I was looking for. The information in those articles touched on many aspects of stingray life, but didn’t go too in-depth. In that case, if I really was doing a research paper for an important project, I would alter my search to target specific topics pertaining to the life of a stingray, such as “do stingrays lay eggs?” (That was actually some really interesting stuff.)
Tools & Techniques to Help Organize Your Internet Research
We’ll touch briefly here, but you can find out more about this for free in How to… Research on the Internet. It contains links of some examples and free resources and tools to help organize your research data.
Outlining
Create a hierarchical structure for the research.
An example would be:
The Life of a Stingray
I. Reproduction
a. Mating
b. Egg production
c. Stingray young
II. Habitat
a. Beaches inhabited
b. Water temperature
Note-Taking
Take down ideas, findings, and record your observations. This website will give you more information about taking notes.
Mind Mapping
This means to visually organize relationships and ideas.
Research and Citation Management Software
These are tools that integrate various research management tasks, keep track of sources, and create bibliographies.
Online Research Tools
Many search engines, online libraries, and databases have ways to organize the information you want to save for later, such as lists and favorites.
Spreadsheet Software
Google Sheets is a great option. You only need to come up with the best way to categorize the information you obtain.
Project Management Software
This type of software can give you multiple ways to classify information for your project. My favorites are Trello and Airtable. Free plans are available for both of those resources.
Avoiding Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of using someone else’s work or ideas without giving them proper credit.
By citing your sources you use in your research papers or projects properly, plagiarism can be easily avoided. Whether you’re paraphrasing information or quoting someone or their work directly, citing your sources is always necessary.
Free plagiarism detection software is available online to help you check your work before it’s submitted.
You have your own unique personality, your work should too. Developing your own writing style and ideas, instead of relying on the work of others, is important.
Citation and Referencing
Citation and referencing are two very important components of academic writing. Citations give credit to the sources of information used in a piece of writing, and references provide readers with a complete list of sources used in the work. You can avoid plagiarism accusations and give your readers the ability to verify the accuracy of your work.
You can find examples of citation and referencing in the free guide, How to… Research on the Internet.
You can also find specific guidelines and examples online by searching online for the appropriate citation style for your discipline – APA, MLA, or Chicago.
4 Tips for Staying Safe on the Internet
Talk to your kids about staying safe on the Internet. I go over this in the free guide, but I don’t think it can be stressed enough when dealing with kids and the WWW. You can NEVER be too careful. The net is full of people that don’t have your child’s best interests at heart and the cost is too great to let them be influenced by them.
- Use trusted websites and sources for research.
- Be cautious of clicking on links or downloading files from unknown sources.
- Never share personal information online. (We set up guidelines and rules in our home so the kids know what information can be shared and what must be kept private. Their first name and the state we live in are the only pieces of information we allow to be shared.)
- Tell your kids to bring you anything they come across that’s inappropriate or they aren’t sure about.
Get the Free Guide
Get the free guide, How to… Research on the Internet, and teach your kids how to safely and properly do research in cyberspace. This guide contains activities and assessments that can be supervised by a parent or trusted adult to help your child determine which sites are safe and reliable Internet spaces for current and authoritative research.
