Information reliability for academic research: review and recommendations

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide to scientific researchers and academic students some subsidies related to information reliability that may be used during information search and retrieval for academic research based on the author’s experience as a university librarian and interdisciplinary researcher.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is composed of a brief conceptualization of the term information reliability, followed by a practical guide containing three processes for obtaining reliable information: knowledge of bibliometric indicators, evaluation of sources of information and analysis of the content of recovered publications.

Findings

Currently, there are few publications about information reliability that target the practical and effective learning of academic researchers and students, based on the experience of librarians who work directly with bibliographic search and training based on scientific literature.

Social implications

The great demand of questions submitted by academic users on how to obtain reliable information shows the need for a paper like this to clarify them.

Originality/value

This paper shares best practices for search and discovery of information reliability, which are based on experiences that are not commonly addressed in the literature, and presents processes covering the bibliometric indicators, information sources and publication contents.

Citation

Colepicolo, E. (2015), "Information reliability for academic research: review and recommendations", New Library World, Vol. 116 No. 11/12, pp. 646-660. https://doi.org/10.1108/NLW-05-2015-0040