Apart from academic journal articles, there is a variety of free online business related information that can be considered scholarly and credible. This can include government information, reports and research conducted by professional organisations or think tanks as well as credible media sources.
When searching for information on the internet it is always important to evaluate information by applying the C.R.A.P test (see Website Evaluation Tips) to ensure the resources you find are reliable and authoritative.
| Search for an exact phrase, or match |
Put your search terms in quotation marks "climate change" |
| Exclude a word from your search |
Put a dash - before any word you want to exclude Port corrosion -phone |
| Search within a range of numbers |
Use two periods .. between the numbers to return results within that range sea temperature 2012..2017 |
| Search within a website |
Use site: to search within a particular web address or to limit your results to a domain type site: abs.gov.au site:.edu |
| Limit by geographical area or time frame | Use the Google Tools drop down options to limit to Australian results and/or select a time frame for your results. |
Blogs are typically used by researchers to reach wider audiences. Unlike journal articles, blog content typically utilises a plain English language style instead of discipline-specific jargon and scholarly expression. Blogs can be good sources of information, however the credibility of blogs can vary. This is why it is important to evaluate what you find.
Tip: Use a blog feed reader such as Feedly to view and keep track of the blog posts you've read, all in the one place.
