## Evaluating search results

When evaluating your search results, the first thing to check is whether the publication you found will actually help you answer your research question.

- Read the title of the article, book, or chapter carefully. You can already get a lot of information from it.
- Scan the abstract. Abstracts can be difficult to read because of their high information density. Don’t let that discourage you.
- Check the journal. In which journal was the article published? Is it a journal in your field?
- Look at the publication date. An article on AI from five years ago is probably outdated. An article on Napoleon from ten years ago may still be highly relevant.
- Consider the number of citations (*“cited by” in Google Scholar; *“citations” in Scopus). This indicates the influence of a publication, but not necessarily its quality.
- Be cautious with theses. In Google Scholar, you will find many theses written by students. These are not scholarly publications and cannot be used as sources for your paper. Theses usually have 0 citations as well.

Tip!

Don’t start reading right away. Keep searching, as you may find an article that better matches what you’re looking for. Once you have found around seven articles, select the most relevant publication. Avoid spending a lot of time reading an article that ultimately turns out to be irrelevant.

Remember to keep a logbook, where you note how you searched, where you searched, and how many publications you found.