Psychology: Websites

Based on the evaluating websites criteria below, these are some suggested sites made by the MVCC Librarians for Psychology:

We live in an information-filled world. Google something, and you get millions of results in a second. Look that same something up in the library's databases and you'll get thousands more results. These millions of results are not all the same.

Like clothing, some sources might be outdated, full of holes, made badly, out of season, or just not a good fit. Using an source that's a bad fit for your college research paper is like wearing a basketball uniform to ski, or buying a pair of pants that's 4 sizes too big. Be picky about what sources you use.

Here are some things you can do to choose the best sources:

1. STOP. How does the source make you feel? If the source makes you angry, or agrees with what you already think, your emotions can overwhelm your judgement. Don't discard or believe information based only upon how you feel; do more research.

2. Investigate the source. Open another browser tab and google the organization who created the website, the author, the publisher. Skim through the first few results. If there is a Wikipedia page about them, skim that. What reputation does the website, author, etc. have? Are they controversial, or do most people respect their authority on the issue you're researching? You might still want to use a controversial source, but you definitely want to know they are controversial! 

3. Find better/other coverage. Often you find useful facts or information in not-so-scholarly sources. Your instructor is not going to be impressed by a citation from Wikipedia or many other random sources out on the open web, regardless of how true the information is. Try to find that same information in better sources, like an article or book from the library, or a well-respected news or professional organization. 

4. Trace claims, quotes, and images back to their original sources. Often, articles are actually summarizing or borrowing from scientific studies, original reporting, or other work done by someone else. Used citations, reverse image searches, and good old Googling to find the original sources; these are usually better sources to cite than the first article you find.