When researching, it is essential to access reliable sources of informationwhich allow you to work on your thesis, schoolwork or other activities without problems.
Taking this into account, in the following article, we will explain to you what they arewhat characteristics they present, examples, types and other details about it.
What are the sources of information?
Information sources, also known as documentary sources, are means that provide a particular type of data. They act as research support, being used as references for third parties in research papers, academic articles and more. Consequently, they are reliable and important resources when obtaining results on specific topics.
What are the best reliable sources of information?
Among the best reliable sources of information are the following:
It is a search engine that allows you to find articles, research papers, magazines, books, essays and all kinds of bibliographical references. They can correspond to numerous topics, be it natural sciences, social sciences, mathematics and more. Likewise, it provides options to find information in Spanish and other languages.
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It is a portal whose database has with 1,518 online magazines and 774,669 articles, which correspond to different institutions from 27 countries. Among the topics it addresses are social and natural sciences, as well as arts and humanities. To facilitate this action, it has a search bar to use keywords.
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It is a digital library that not only allows access to articles or research papers, but also facilitates sections to watch videos, books, audio, programs and images, corresponding to various objects of study. Likewise, thanks to its “Wayback Machine” function it is possible to recover broken links that present relevant information.
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It is a digital library, which gives access to scientific journals from different countries from Latin America and other parts of the world. It is available in various languages and has a search engine to easily find any specific content, as well as a section to enter lists of newspapers by alphabetical order, publications or topic.
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It is an online repository, which has a search bar to enter keywords related to the research topic. It is available in different languages and has a section to access its database, in order to explore the different content it presents.
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It is an academic search engine, which offers sections to explore bibliographic reference sites. Likewise, it provides sections to navigate its web system in order to find the educational work of your choice. Also, it offers various documents present in its database.
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It has more than 40 million documents, 20 million daily recommendations and 197 million registered users. It requires a login and is a portal in which different professionals share their research in different areas, such as history, engineering, economics or psychology.
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It is a search engine that allows you to place keywords from different topics, to gain access to multiple works, just as you would do on Google. This platform provides an information sheet for each title, among which is the name of the author, year of publication and publisher.
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It provides numerous boxes to perform specific searches, whether by titles, authors, editors, files, comics, magazines, articles, magazines and more. In general, it is a platform to find bibliographic material and download it in PDF format or EPUB, through a P2P system.
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It is a reliable source of information, which It has 29,598,390 articles and books, which can be accessed through a keyword, author or title search engine. Likewise, it has sections to find content organized by alphabetical or topical order, such as health, humanities, business and more.
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It is a search engine, which is characterized by helping research more than 50 million materials, with options to store them. This web portal has multiple features, consisting of videos, images, music and books that you can use as a bibliographic reference.
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It is a platform in which most of the content is available as a presentation, although it is also possible to find documents or infographics of an investigative nature. Requires prior registration to download or share them with other users.
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It is an educational portal that, in turn, provides entertainment content, which requires registration and contracting a monthly plan for USD 9.99, although it has a free month. It has numerous documents, research papersmagazines, audiobooks, books, podcasts and even sheet music.
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Characteristics of reliable sources of information
The sources of information are characterized by complying with a series of aspects, among which are:
- They provide numerous points of view when approaching the research, thus including different perspectives that can serve users in their work. In this way, they provide a comprehensive document in a responsible manner.
- They have the support from other researcherssince the text is processed by numerous professionals to offer 100% reliable material.
- They do not present plagiarism and they avoid repeating information from other portals. So, they always approach their content in a concise and serious way.
- They directly indicate whether They have their own sourceswhich provides greater credibility when investigating.
- The presentation of the information is clear, analytical and understandable, thus avoiding misinterpretations.
- They perform detailed and understandable analyzescoherently exposing an idea, without ignoring important topics or making unbelievable summaries.
Types of information sources
Among the different types of reliable sources of information that exist, are the following:
- Primary: They act as the closest witnesses to the subject of investigation, so there is not a large number of intermediaries. For example, when there is a robbery, the primary source would be the people who witnessed the event.
- high schools: they take into account primary sources to provide an analysis, evaluation or interpretation of what happened, with the purpose of providing a new contribution. For example, a summary made by the police about the robbery that occurred.
- Tertiary: provides a compilation of all the information obtained from primary and secondary sources, along with comments or interpretations. Considering the robbery case, the tertiary source is the complete police file, with witnesses, reports and photos.
Examples of reliable sources of information
There are various examples of reliable sources, among which you can find recordings, written press articles or scientific journals, since they are responsible for capturing the information in order to preserve it and be able to use it later. Another type are essays, bibliographic references, infographics, films and websites.
Tips to consider
Some tips to keep in mind when using a source of information are the following:
- Check that digital texts, such as books or articles, have their corresponding bibliographic references.
- The university websites They are reliable sources of information. However, it is recommended to always access the most popular platforms or agreements with other large portals.
- You can go to bibliographic references of essays or research work to find new sources of reliable information.
- Must be identify the author or authors of the article, book, magazine or essay in question. Likewise, the publisher, year of publication or institution on which it is supported must be checked.
- When accessing articles or information on web pages, you should check the amount of spelling or grammar errorssince it could be an indication that said data is not reliable.
How to verify that a source of information is reliable?
To verify that a source of information is reliable, consider the following aspects:
- Check source references: All secure media have a bibliography at the beginning or end, which provides greater credibility.
- Drafting: the way in which the text is written is a sign to consider, since the lack of dedication when detailing the research or spelling errors will indicate that the source is false.
- Check domain: The platforms of educational institutes, the government or other organizations present the “.org” or “.edu” domain, making them official and extremely trustworthy.
- Use other sources: It is essential to go to various media to compare and verify the way the information is handled.
- Author authority: It is important to verify that the name of the creator of the text is a professional in the area and has other works under his or her authorship, which will allow us to evaluate his or her experience and reputation.
In general, knowing reliable sources of information is essential to carry out tasks, research work, essays and other types of activities.