There’s More To Research Than Wikipedia

As freelance writers and ghostwriters, we often need to do quick internet research on topics we may know very little about. If we’re going to be professionals, then we have to find a way to decide whether the information we use is really reliable (Wikipedia may have a lot of information, but who knows if it’s trustworthy?) Finding information you can trust gets more and more difficult, as there is more information to wade through every day. Google may help you find information, but you still need to evaluate it.

When I was teaching journalism, I prepared a lecture on verifying internet resources, then promptly lost the reference. Luckily, I’ve found something similar again — this article on

Evaluating Internet Resources — Georgetown University Library

Unlike similar information found in newspapers or television broadcasts, information available on the Internet is not regulated for quality or accuracy; therefore, it is particularly important for the individual Internet user to evaluate the resource or information

Though it may be time consuming, you could use it to build a list of trusted sources that would be your first stop when doing some new research.