PSCC Libraries: Biology: 3. Recognize Credible Sources

What Makes a Source Credible?

Credible sources make your argument stronger and more reliable. Scholarly, peer reviewed sources are always credible. You can evaluate other sources for credibility by asking:

Who is writing?
- Should be an expert: Master's degree or higher in their field
On what topic?
- Author should be an expert in the field they are writing about. Ex. a Veterinarian writing about diseases affecting dogs

For a research paper, you will focus on scholarly sources, which meet the first two criteria and also are written for other experts. Popular magazines and news stories are not scholarly sources. Also be aware that some articles in scholarly journals such as editorials, opinion pieces or book reviews are not peer reviewed articles.

Any doubts about the credibility of a source you've found? Ask a librarian!

Reliable science websites to explore

Animal Diversity Web
An online database of animal natural history, distribution, classification, and conservation biology at the University of Michigan
Cell Image Library
This library is a public and easily accessible resource database of images, videos, and animations of cells, capturing a wide diversity of organisms, cell types, and cellular processes.
Darwin Digital Library of Evolution
On this site you will find the manuscripts that record Charles Darwin's work as a practicing scientist. Sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History Library.
JSTOR Global Plants
An online environment that brings together content, tools, and people interested in plant science. It provides access to foundational content vital to plant science – plant type specimens, taxonomic structures, scientific literature, and related materials, making them widely accessible to the plant science community as well as to researchers in other fields and to the public.
Learn Genetics
Genetic science learning center by the University of Utah. Includes info on Human genetics, cell biology, plants, virtual labs, and much more.
Marine Biology
Information about the earth's marine life from the MarineBio Conservation Society
MedlinePlus
Trustworthy health information compiled by the National Library of Medicine. Also good information about body systems and how they work.
NIH National Human Genome Research Institute
Learn about genetics, DNA, chromosomes, and genetic disorders.
National Science Foundation
The biological division features news and reports on research funded by the NSF.
Scitable: Cell Biology
Scitable is a free science library and personal learning tool created by Nature Publishing Group. Cell biology resources include introductory summaries of key concepts, evidence-based readings on advanced topics, and more.
Tree of Life
The Tree of Life Web Project is a collection of information about biodiversity compiled collaboratively by hundreds of expert and amateur contributors. Its goal is to contain a page with pictures, text, and other information for every species and for each group of organisms, living or extinct.
University of Tennessee Herbarium
UT Herbarium databases updated frequently for online use. Thousands of plant profiles, most related to the East Tennessee area
Zygote Body
ZygoteBody offers a zoomable, rotatable model of both the male and female human bodies. The models show several systems (muscle, skeletal, organ, cardiovascular, lymphatic, and nervous systems, and a basic skin layer).