Using Wikipedia or Google may be OK for everyday information needs, but standards of academic research usually require the use of scholarly materials. These materials are research-based books, reports, and academic journals, most of which can only be found by using library systems such as the ELibrary databases.

Unlike ELibrary databases, which have edited or peer-reviewed content organized by subject disciplines, the Internet contains pages that can be created by anyone. There is little editing, quality control or fact-checking.

Because there is so much information on the Internet, scholarly information can be hard to find. BEFORE you use any Internet information in your research paper, make sure you understand your instructor’s preferences and expectations. Some professors will allow Internet use, others will forbid it.