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University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

ESL Undergraduate Student Guide

A guide to support international students in ESL 112 and 115 and beyond.

Tips for Evaluating Information

In order to select the best information source, you will need to carefully evaluate each one. The links below will guide you through evaluating your sources. 

Evaluate Articles

When using a database, you will find articles published in different kinds of sources:

  • Academic, scholarly, or peer-reviewed journals
  • Popular and special interest magazines, or trade publications
  • Newspapers

Click on the links below to learn more about the kinds of information you can learn about an article in a database. These examples will help you better understand your results when you search a library database.

Scholarly Article

Find out what is included in each section of a scholarly journal article by placing your cursor over the stars.

Magazine Article

Find out what is included in each section of a magazine article by placing your cursor over the stars.

Newspaper Article

Find out what is included in each section of a newspaper article by placing your cursor over the stars.

Tips for Evaluating Web Pages: VIDEO