Three Fast Online Research Sources

I am in the middle of moving into my new home, so I have been sort of off the grid for the past two weeks. That’s why today’s article is short and sweet — but should be still helpful especially if you are stuck researching articles.

So you want to write a nice 400 word article but you are writing about something completely out of your comfort zone, knowledge base, or experience. Okay – this isn’t going to be one of your article masterpieces, but you still want it to have relevant information. So here’s the deal…

1. You Can Trust The Government!
If you are researching information in niches that offer statistical information, it would be sooooo easy to just do a Google search and take the statistics from the first one or two results in that search. The trouble with this is – is that most of the time the top results are from that juggernaut – Wikipedia. Now I like Wikipedia like the next person, but let’s be honest here, it is a human edited and reviewed source of information. I mean I could go into my husband’s Wikipedia page right now and add all types of information without the public knowing if it is accurate or not – if I wanted to:)

So you have to take information, especially statistical information from this source with a grain of salt. Instead it would be better to go to a regulated source such as a government site. I use government statistical information when I write many of my health related articles.

2. Go To College For Free
I have both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree, so I can say this without feeling bad. There is probably way more time spent on researching the most trivial up to the most important issues at universities then any other place on earth! While this is a lot of energy spent at an academic level, this is really great news for us.

We can research almost any topic and find something written about it from a professor or graduate student at universities across the globe. The internet has made this information much more accessible then it use to be. So it’s a good idea to take advantage of it. Nothing screams “professional” more than when you can include a quote or statistic on your topic from a college or university. It adds instant credibility to your writing.

3. Get More Mileage From  Your Magazines
Depending on your niche, there probably are magazines or periodicals that you can refer to for research on your articles. There are many magazines and newspapers that have established credibility over years of great journalism or great marketing:) So it would be a no-brainer to use them as sources of stats or quotes for your articles.

Back in the old days we would have to subscribe to every relevant or sort of relevant magazine and newspaper in our niche, or we would have to sit in the library and do it. I am kind of anti-library. So I would spend the money. Now you can find a great article for research purposes instantly via internet. Some may charge you a fee to access the archives, but most are not that sophisticated and you can find what you need during a basic internet search.

Happy Researching ‘Yall!