## 4.5 Working with academic information

Section 2.2 Types of Information explains what academic information means.
Even with academic information, it is important to take a critical look at whether the information is relevant, reliable, up to date, and complete.
Below you will find tips that you should pay specific attention to when working with academic information.
Reading order

Do not immediately read an academic article from beginning to end. Follow the sequence below to get a quicker understanding of its relevance to your research.

1. Abstract (summary)
2. Introduction
3. Discussion/Conclusion
4. Results
5. Methods

Relevancy

Ask yourself the following questions to determine whether the information is relevant to your research:

- What is this article about?
- What are the main questions?
- Why is this article important?
- What does this article contribute to your study of this subject?

Currency

Assess whether the information is sufficiently up to date. TIP: Also check if the author(s) have published more recent articles on this subject.

Reliability

To assess the degree of reliability, you should first know the following:

- Is the information peer-reviewed?
- What is the authority of the authors?
- Where is the information published and what is the status of this source?
- Is it clear what the interests of the authors are?
- How was the research data collected?
- Is reference made to sources and/or is there a literature list?

You have now been given a global overview of the source. If it still seems useful, dive deeper into the information. For example, you can read the paragraphs about the research method. Of course, you will also delve into the research results. Ask yourself three things when reading the article in more depth:

1. To what extent does the information in this article help you to formulate an answer to your research question(s)?
2. Does the information in this article contribute to your theoretical framework and is it valuable for your research? In other words, is it an enrichment of the theory you have already found? Does the content of this article perhaps trigger a dialogue or discussion?
3. Pay attention to the literature references. Do the authors use literature that, in view of your own research, is also worth reading? Use this source(s) for your research.