Research Source Investigation Worksheet

1Short-Form Social Media Video

Scroll through TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube shorts until you find something niche that catches your interest. Create a citation for the video.

Template: Username. "Caption text (first 20 words)." Platform Name, Day Month Year, URL.

2Search Terms

Use Copilot to generate a list of search terms related to your topic. Write them down here.

3Long-Form YouTube Video

Find a long form YouTube video on the same topic (e.g. a video essay, instructional/DIY video, or vlog). Create a citation for this video.

Template: Creator or Channel Name. "Video Title." YouTube, uploaded by Username, Day Month Year, URL.

In a few sentences, explain what information this video offers you that your original vid did not.

4Book Search

Search on Amazon for books related to your topic. What types of books do you see? What are their primary audience or use value?

Create a citation for one of the books based on the information available on the product page.

Template: Author's Last Name, First Name. Book Title. Publisher, Year of Publication.

5Related Professions

List some professions that might also be interested in researching your topic.

6Trade Publication

Combine your list of search terms with your list of professions and search on Google for trade publications (try [topic] + [profession] + trade publications). Pick a website and create a citation for an article that you find on it.

Template: Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Website Name, Publisher, Day Month Year, URL.

7Lateral Reading Investigation

Perform a lateral reading-based investigation of the trade publication and the author of the article. How highly is it regarded? Is it highly credible? Fringe? Somewhere in the middle?

8Academic Fields

List some academic fields that might also be interested in researching your topic.

9Peer-Reviewed Article

Combine your list of search terms with your list of fields and search for peer reviewed articles on the library website. Create a citation for one of them.

Template: Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Journal Title, vol. number, no. number, Year, pp. page range. DOI or URL.

10Article Analysis

Skim the peer reviewed article. How does it approach the topic differently than the other sources that you selected?