Geology: Evaluate

Reading critically is a crucial element to research. (Adapted from Harvard University Libraries' Interrogating Texts Research Guide)

• dictionary at the ready.
• Read actively. Write notes in the margins as you read rather than underlining or highlighting.
• Summarize the reading when your finished in your notes and consider the author's main points or findings.

Tutorial: How to Read a Scientific Paper by Michael Fosmire of Purdue University Libraries. (Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Consider how you would integrate a source into your work.

Is it useful for:

• Background Information: is it part of the body of literature related to your research?
• Exhibit: does the study exhibit results that you will interpret for your yourself and for benefit of your reader?
• Argument: do the study's results affirm, contradict, refine, or extend your own argument?
• Method: will the study's methods inform your own methods or be replicated in part?

Adapted from Woodward & Ganski under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.