1. articles in scientific (reviewed) journals reporting original research
2. articles written by scientists to explore theoretical possibilities
3. articles written by scientists who review their own and others work
4. books on a relevant topic but with each chapter contributed by a different scientist
5. books written by scientists (who participated in the research)
    
6. articles written by science journalists in newspapers and magazines
7. books written by science journalists
8. information with unknown authors and unknown completeness
   (newspapers, news magazines, wikipedia)
9. information with an agenda (political or social)
   (many books, newspapers, and almost all of the web)
10. information with no identified sources!

WAYS TO SEARCH FOR SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET

To get started, try ...

• www.google.com [casts a broad net]

• scholar.google.com [focuses on scientific articles]

• UNC Library article databases (http://eresources.lib.unc.edu/eid/)
  go to this link (or go to E-Research Tools) and then check "Frequently Used" or "Biology"
  • BIOSIS Previews (now owned by Web of Science)
  • ISI Citation Databases (Web of Science)
  • Zoological Record
  • PubMed
  • JSTOR

Once you find a good article on a topic, check ...

• the list of references in this article [the best way to find prior articles on the same topic]

• any articles that cite this article [the best way to find more recent articles on the same topic]
  (available from ISI Citation Databases or from scholar.google.com)

TACTICS FOR SEARCHING DATABASES

• combine a general word and a specific word in your search
• start general and use the first results to find a specific word
• start specific and use the first results to find a general word
• don't be satisfied with your first results!