Original Comment by Will Magnum:

I have been mostly using Google Scholar and the DU library advanced search. The DU librarians are amazing at what they do and have helped me in almost every course at DU. They know the search engine so they can put in keywords that can pinpoint articles for your paper. I also have been finding good articles from Google and then finding credible websites to get my articles from. I am relying on academic journals that have been peer-reviewed as these are the most respected forms of citations in the academic community. I have also not ruled out popular articles from the internet that are from reliable sources. I have used some articles that discuss the cost of electric vehicles compared to fossil fuels and that data needs to be up to date. Sometimes research journals do not have the most updated information. I will rely mainly on academic journals, but some news articles have up-to-date information that is based on what is happening today. I am planning on using a mix of those types of articles, I have also found that I can rely on government websites such as the EPA and other environmental policy websites that are funded by the government.

I am determining the relevance of the articles by first seeing the date of the article. I have tried to find articles that are less than ten years old. I have one that is older which was written in 2010, but all my other articles have updated information and research. In terms of content, I determine a source is relevant by scoping out the abstract and finding what it says about electric vehicles. I am focusing on finding research and information that helps me form the credible argument that electric vehicle infrastructure needs updating. If the article discusses electric vehicles and the economy, I will most likely use that as well. There are many ways I find a source credible and relevant. It mainly is determined by what I am specifically discussing in the report at that time. For my articles, I like to see if it discusses cost. When articles discuss how much something is going to cost, I find it to be more realistic.

My Comment:

Hi Will,

Thanks so much for the insights regarding peer-reviewed sources. In past courses, I would just go to jstor.org, search the title of my topic and scroll through the listings until I find one that fits all of my criteria. However, your ideas to use Google Scholar, DU Library and the librarians is useful. Particularly considering that it may be particularly difficult to find peer-reviewed content about the SaaS (Software as a Service) aspect of my issue, I am going to reach out to the librarians to ask for support. I similarly go to articles on google to develop points for my argument and then go to more reputable sources that are either referenced in the article or elsewhere. Great point that articles discussing the cost of electric vehicles compared to fossil fuels need to be up to date considering that prices change. Further, the articles explaining the reasoning for the pricing levels need to be up to date as well. Awesome distinction between research journals and academic journals.