Speed Dating for Species Impacted by Climate Change: Researching Tools

When evaluating a website, consider the...

• Authority
  • What are the credentials of the author or publisher?
  • Is this a personal page or is it sponsored by an organization?
  • What is the point of view or perspective of the creator?
• Relevance
  • Does the website address your topic and research questions?
  • Can you read and understand the text?
• Accuracy
  • Does the information appear to be accurate because it matches information found in other resources?
  • Is it up-to-date?
  • Is the information mostly facts or opinion?
  • Is believable evidence provided to back up all statements?
• Comprehensiveness
  • Is the information complete and comprehensive?
  • Does the site present more than one perspective? 

Plagiarism is the use of another person’s words or ideas and representing them as your own. 

Plagiarism may be intentional or unintentional. 

To make sure you have avoided plagiarism in your work, you should:

• Accurately quote the original author's words.
• Enclose the quotation within quotation marks.
• Follow the quotation with an in-text citation.
• Introduce the quotation with a phrase that includes the author's name.
• Provide a list of references with full citation information at the end of the paper.