Whether you are searching for information in a library database, international databases or the internet, you always have to evaluate carefully if the source you found is reliable and scientific and can be used in your work.
Who has created the information, a well-known organization, an expert or perhaps AI? Can you verify the information presented from some other source? See more useful questions in this LibGuide's subpage Evaluating online sources.
Scientific articles usually have a certain structure, the IMRD structure (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion). At the beginning, there is an abstract which helps readers to determine whether the article is relevant for them. The text itself starts with an introduction to the background of the research, after which the actual research and methodology are explained and the research findings discussed. At the end of the article are conclusions and references. The language in the article is objective and contains plenty of special terminology. Also tables and charts are used to portray data related to the research.
In the article or in connection with it, there is also information about the publication and the authors' academic credentials. The article can also have keywords or subject terms describing its topic.
A scientific journal includes scientific articles that report scientific research and study. Scientific journals can be distinguished from magazines by many characteristics. There are many differences when it comes to, for example, the audience, the authors of the articles, the language used, the ways of listing references, the layout and overall purpose of the journal. Also before publication, scientific articles usually go through a peer review process.
Is the source available as full-text? Can you, for example, access the article as a PDF file or get the book from a library near you? In full-text databases, the articles are available for download online. You can also try asking the author of an article for a copy.
If you cannot find what you are looking for in Finna, the internet or the libraries in the area, contact Tritonia's Interlibrary loans service which enables you to borrow or order photocopies of material from other libraries.
In order to save time when going through different information sources, there are different reading techniques you can use: skim the text to find sections useful for you, scan for answers to what, who and when, focus on finding the main ideas or read the text critically. Source and more information about reading academic texts.
When you use the sources in your work, you must take into consideration the ethical use of information and follow the code of conduct for research integrity. Violations against the responsible conduct of research include, for example, plagiarism, misrepresentation and fabrication. For more information, see the publication The Finnish code of conduct for research integrity and procedures for handling alleged violations of research integrity in Finland 2023 by the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity (TENK).
The ethical use of information includes also, of course, correct referencing and a carefully made bibliography. Follow the writing guidelines of your own university.
Plagiarism is one of the violations of research integrity. Plagiarism refers to presenting another person's text or other material as one's own without mentioning the source. Direct copying but also paraphrasing is considered as plagiarism if the original work is not referenced to appropriately. Self-plagiarism, i.e. publishing one's own previous work as new, as well as presenting text created by AI as one's own are fraudulent activities.
To avoid plagiarism, you should carefully familiarize yourself with the citing practices of your own university. When it comes to matters of citing, it is recommended to turn first to the teacher of the course or the supervisor of your thesis.
Publication Forum (in Finnish referred to as JUFO) is a classification system of publication channels created by the Finnish scientific community to support the quality assessment of academic research. The classification includes academic journals, book series, conferences and book publishers.
Major foreign and domestic publication channels of all disciplines are classified into three levels (3 = highest level, 2 = leading level, 1 = basic level). For example, only scientific, peer reviewed journals can have JUFO level 1-3.
Open science
The promotion of open operations models in science and research. Research data should be freely used, re-used and shared. More information on open science.
Disinformation
Deliberately spreading false or biased information with the intent of misleading people
Misinformation
Creating and spreading misleading information without knowing the information is false
Embargo
A publication delay. The latest issue of, for example, an e-journal is available in full-text in a certain database after a certain time period. The delay is often one year. In these cases, check other databases if they have the latest issue available.
Peer review
Before its publication, an article goes through a peer review process, where experts within the field in question evaluate the quality of the article and whether it can be published in a scientific journal. Also called the referee process sometimes.
