1. Initial Post

In this Discussion Forum, you will practice finding and evaluating two research sources—one from the Internet and one from the library database CINAHL. Before you write and submit the post, you will locate, scan, and evaluate the two sources you find.

 CLICK HERE for a Worksheet that will help you write this discussion forum post.

1.  Carefully read and take notes on the “Identifying and Evaluating Research Sources” PowerPoint in Week  7

2.  Think of a healthcare-related topic of interest to you (an illness, treatment, policy, practice, etc.)

3.  Google the topic and choose one Internet source that intrigues you.

4.  Record all of the bibliographic information available (some of the following items might not be provided): author, date, title of article or webpage, title of magazine, journal, website, etc., and URL.

5.  Then, copy and paste the following five CRAAP test questions into your post and carefully consider your answers to each of them as you test the source for credibility:

i.) Currency of the date of publication, taking into account that research comes out as quickly as  weekly, monthly, and yearly on health topics?

ii.)  Relevance of the source to your research interests?

iii.) Author(s)’ authority or credentials? (If not available on the source itself, Google the author to see other whether he/she/they have written other publications on the topic).

iv.) Accuracy of the information, based on the author’s other publications and what others say about the website or journal in which your source appeared?

v.) Purpose of source—the source should inform and educate?

6. Make sure to include the bibliographic information for the Internet source above your CRAAP test questions.

7.  Next, research the same topic you chose for the Google search but instead conduct research in the library database CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature). CLICK HERE for a video that shows you all about researching using CINAHL.

8.  After locating the source in CINAHL, repeat steps 4 through 6 above for it. 

9.  Label your post before you submit it, with a title like this:  “I researched migraines, and these are the two sources I found.”

10.  See the Example Post below of how your post should look when you submit it!

Note:  Remember to reference both of the sources in APA Style.  For help with APA Style references, please review: https://hondros.libguides.com/APA7/References. 

Note:  An easy—but not required!—way to record bibliographic information for your CINAHL source is to click on the “Cite” icon on the right-hand side of the page containing your article.  Once you click the “Cite” icon, scroll through the drop-down menu to find “APA 7th Edition” and copy and paste the bibliographic information.