Research Skills
Learn how to evaluate sources, take effective notes, and reference correctly to support your writing and thinking.
Evaluating Sources: The CRAAP Test
Not all sources are equally trustworthy. Before using information in your work, evaluate it using the CRAAP Test — a widely used framework to assess source quality.
Currency
When was it published or last updated? Is the information still relevant and up to date for your topic?
Relevance
Does the source directly relate to your topic? Is it appropriate for your audience and level of study?
Authority
Who wrote it? Are they qualified? Is it published by a reputable organisation (university, government body, established publisher)?
Accuracy
Is it evidence-based? Does it cite its own sources? Can the facts be verified elsewhere? Is it free of obvious errors?
Purpose
Why was it written? To inform, persuade, sell, entertain? Is there a bias? Who is the intended audience?
Effective Note-Taking Strategies
Effective note-taking helps you understand, organise, and remember information — and avoids accidental plagiarism. The goal is to capture ideas, not copy sentences.
Paraphrasing
Rewrite information in your own words. This proves you understand the idea and avoids plagiarism.
Source: "Regular exercise reduces stress hormones and releases endorphins."
Your notes: "Exercise helps lower stress by triggering chemical changes in the brain."
Quoting Directly
Use the exact words from a source when the phrasing is especially powerful or precise. Always put direct quotes in quotation marks and record the source.
"The ocean covers more than 70% of the Earth's surface" (CSIRO, 2023).
Summarising
Capture the main idea of a whole article, chapter, or section in a few sentences.
Useful when the detail is not critical but the general argument is.
Cornell Notes
Divide your page: left column for key words/questions, right column for detailed notes, bottom for a summary. Helps with revision.
Effective for complex topics with lots of information.
Avoid Plagiarism
Plagiarism is presenting someone else's ideas or words as your own — intentionally or accidentally. Always acknowledge your sources. When in doubt, cite it.
Basic Referencing
Referencing tells the reader where you found your information. Australian schools commonly use APA or Harvard style. The key information to record for any source is:
For a Book
- Author's last name, first initial
- Year of publication
- Title (in italics)
- Publisher
Lowry, L. (1993). The Giver. Houghton Mifflin.
For a Website
- Author (if known)
- Year published/updated
- Page title
- Website name & URL
- Date accessed
ABC News. (2024). Climate report findings. abc.net.au/news/...
In-text citation: When you use information from a source in your work, add a short citation immediately after it: (Author, Year) or (Author, Year, page). E.g., "Exercise improves memory retention (Smith, 2022, p. 14)."
Key Vocabulary
Plagiarism
Presenting someone else's words or ideas as your own without acknowledgement — a serious academic offence.
Paraphrase
Rewriting information from a source in your own words while keeping the original meaning.
Primary Source
Original, first-hand evidence — e.g., a novel, diary, speech, photograph, or research data.
Secondary Source
Material that analyses, interprets, or summarises primary sources — e.g., a review, textbook, or essay about a novel.
Worked Examples
Example 1: Applying the CRAAP Test
Source: A Wikipedia article on climate change, last edited 3 months ago.
Evaluation: Currency — recent (good). Relevance — depends on the topic. Authority — Wikipedia is crowd-edited with no single qualified author (weak). Accuracy — articles vary widely; many are unreferenced. Purpose — to inform generally. Conclusion: Use Wikipedia to get an overview, but find the original sources cited in the Wikipedia article to use in your own work.
Example 2: Paraphrasing vs Plagiarism
PLAGIARISM (copying)
Original: "Sleep deprivation impairs cognitive function and emotional regulation."
Student: "Sleep deprivation impairs cognitive function and emotional regulation."
PARAPHRASE (acceptable)
Student: "Not getting enough sleep makes it harder to think clearly and manage emotions (Jones, 2023)."
Example 3: Identifying Primary vs Secondary Sources
Topic: World War I in Australia
Primary Sources
- ● Letters from soldiers at Gallipoli
- ● Photographs from 1915
- ● Government enlistment posters
- ● Diary entries from nurses
Secondary Sources
- ● A history textbook chapter on WWI
- ● A documentary about Gallipoli
- ● A historian's analysis of the campaign
- ● An encyclopedia article on ANZAC Day
Knowledge Check
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Key Concepts Summary
- ●Use the CRAAP Test (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose) to evaluate any source.
- ●Paraphrase in your own words, summarise main ideas, or quote directly — always acknowledge the source.
- ●Plagiarism is using someone's ideas without credit — avoid it by always citing sources.
- ●Primary sources are original materials; secondary sources analyse or interpret primary sources.
- ●References for websites need a URL and access date in addition to the standard author/year/title details.