Can I use websites in academic study?
The short answer is "yes - but you must use them appropriately".
Websites can provide valuable evidence to support your discussion, just like books or journal articles. For instance, many authoritative sources such as academic institutions, government and research bodies, or charities use the internet to make important data available as quickly and freely as possible.
However, unlike academic books and journals which are usually peer-reviewed before being published, websites can potentially be written by anyone. So you do need to spend more time assessing their reliability.
| Important: Make sure you refer to a variety of sources in your assignments - don't just cite websites, as this demonstrates a very limited range of research. Using a mixture of books, journals and websites will usually produce the best results. |
A straightforward Google search is easy - but it will give you millions of hits, most of which are irrelevant or not at the right level to use in your work. Search thoughtfully to save wasting time.
Choose your search terms carefully. Use speech marks to search for a phrase rather than separate words, for example "active reading". Use advanced search features to limit language or year. Consider whether there are synonyms for your search terms that you could also try.
Instead of searching Google try it's academic version - Google Scholar, or even better use the Library's own Summon search. These search across journal articles, books, chapters, theses, and other academic sources. Summon will show you resources you can read straight away as part of the Library's subscriptions, you can also limit results to 'peer reviewed' to ensure you are view the best quality results. Note that not all sites are indexed on Google Scholar and that some less reputable journals are included so you shouldn't rely on it.
Google Scholar is the academic version of Google. It allows you to search for scholarly literature (journal articles, books, patents) from a variety of sources, including academic publishers, professional societies, and online repositories.
Go straight to a reputable source: your Academic Liaison Librarian has collated good, reputable academic online resources in your subject area. There are also more reliable alternatives to Wikipedia listed on the Online dictionaries, encyclopedias and other reference sources page.
Use this checklist adapted from the Library's Evaluating websites to help you judge whether a web resource is reliable and appropriate:
Authority
Accuracy and reliability
Currency
Audience / relevance
Feel
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Use Wikipedia - but wisely! It isn't usually acceptable to cite Wikipedia as a source in your assignments. Information on Wikipedia can be edited by anyone, so may be unreliable, and it often isn't at the correct level for university work. However, Wikipedia can provide a brief introduction to a complex topic and give you an overview from which you can then do further in-depth research. You wouldn't cite Wikipedia, but it can get you started thinking about the topic. |
You can use authoritative online resources as evidence in the same way that you would use books or journals. But beware - online resources are so easy to find and access that it might be tempting to do all your research on the web. This is not a good idea - there may be a lot of information online, but that doesn't mean it's the most suitable material for your assignment. For instance, a standard search will often produce a lot of newspaper articles that report on and summarise research. Such articles might be good evidence for an essay on media portrayals of topics, but not appropriate for a scientific literature review. However, the articles might help you find the original research to use directly.
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Tip: If you use a variety of sources, you can compare and cross-check what you read on websites with what you read in book chapters and journal articles. |
Remember that information published on a website is someone else's work or ideas, so you will need to add an accurate citation.
Online resources provide evidence and examples to back up your own points and ideas, so they should be treated like any other source. Reference websites fully and accurately, including the date you accessed the site. Don't forget that visual information (e.g. pictures, photos, diagrams, graphs) from websites also needs to be referenced.
To cite a website in the body of your assignment (in the Harvard style), use the author's surname or the organisation that has responsibility for the website. If neither of these are obvious, use the title. Add the date the webpage was published. Example of an in-text citation:
The policy sets out an ambitious framework enable everyone to contribute to research and innovation (UKRI, 2023).
In the reference list give as many details as are available from this list in this order: Author, year of publication, title of webpage, web link, date accessed. Example of a full reference for a webpage:
UKRI (2023) UKRI’s equality, diversity and inclusion strategy. Available at: https://www.ukri.org/publications/ukris-equality-diversity-and-inclusion-strategy (Accessed: 3 April 2023)
If you can't find a date of publication, use 'no date' in place of the year in the citation.
| Tip: If you are having difficulty finding the necessary details to reference a webpage, you might need to think about whether it is the kind of material that is academically valid - is it suitable to be used as evidence in your assignment? |
See the following resources for additional guidance:
