Research Guidelines Every Freelancer Should Know

A bit of conversation on yesterday’s Eight Things NOT to Rely on as a Freelancer post was the catalyst for today’s post. I mentioned that using Wikipedia as a primary research source is a big no-no. A couple of readers chimed in and said that many Google-based “informational” sources are also not valid (one even extolled the virtue of the oft-neglected library).

I agree wholeheartedly on both counts. In today’s informational age, many writers and researchers have become downright lazy. What used to be acquired from hours of reading books, looking over old documents, consulting educational journals, and interviewing people with actual degrees is now accomplished in minutes by Googling “how Hitler felt about women.”

Since I still know how important it is for freelancer writers to make money, I won’t say that you HAVE TO do hours of primary research in a physical library in order to write a good article. However, here are a few basic researching tips that many of us learned in college or high school and haven’t considered since (but really, really should).

Learn How to Tell the Difference Between a Primary Resource, a Secondary Resource, and a Non-Resource

A primary resource is information straight from the horse’s mouth. It is a document, speech, government report, piece of art, autobiography, or even an email that was written by someone who had a hand in or witnessed the event in question. When a guy goes to South America for two years, lives with an isolated group of people, takes pictures, and writes an article for National Geographic, that’s a primary resource.

A secondary resource is one step removed from the primary resource. It is an interpretation of facts by a third party. They are almost always scholarly works, such as historical studies, encyclopedias, literary analyses, or textbooks. When a woman spends four years writing a book on Elizabethan collars after studying women in history in college, that’s a secondary resource.

A non-resource is Wikipedia, Ezine Articles, Associated Content, Joe Schmoe’s blog, and pretty much anything else you find through the first few pages of Google. When someone pays me $15 to write an SEO article on ideal wedding colors to lower divorce rates, that’s a non-resource.

Look Up the Mastermind Behind Each and Every Website You Visit

This is one of the only things I actually learned in my remedial college computer class, and I still use it today. Oftentimes, we are lulled into a sense of security by URLs that end in .org, .info, or any letters that aren’t .com. Don’t ever fall into that trap.

Visit www.martinlutherking.org (or don’t, since we really shouldn’t send them any traffic – in fact, I refuse to even link there), and you’ll see what I mean. The site looks valid at first, but if you actually read the articles or follow the “hosted by” link at the bottom you’ll learn that it’s not a nice website. It’s hosted by a company called Stormfront. Go to their site and you’re greeted with a logo stating World Wide White Pride.

Not all websites are as blatantly honest as this one, either. You may have to do some digging before you discover that the site you’ve been relying on for information is run by a less-than-reputable source. But if you plan on using a website as research, make sure you know where the information is coming from.

If You Wouldn’t Want to Cite It, Don’t Use It

That brings us to this important step. I know many freelancers don’t cite their sources when writing articles for the web, simply because the employers don’t want them to or the type of writing they are doing doesn’t call for it.

But pretend you are anyway.

If you wouldn’t turn in a research paper to a professor that cites Wikipedia or Urban Dictionary as one of your resources, don’t use them. It’s that easy. (Unless – and only unless – it’s directly relevant to your topic. Then it’s okay.)

Double Check all Important Facts

Major newspapers and magazines have fact-checkers. Do you know why? Because they want to make sure that everything they print is true. As a professional writer, you should judge yourself by the same strict standards.

I don’t mean that you have to go the library and look over the census records in person if you are writing about the population of Chicago in 1996. But don’t take a random website’s, Wikipedia’s, or even City-Data’s word for it. Go to the U.S. Census Bureau and look it up yourself. It’s a primary resource, and is therefore the first place you should go for accurate data.

Gather a Staple of VALID Online Sources

Many of the things I’ve mentioned will add quite a bit to your total research time, and I’m sorry. I know that many freelancers don’t make a very great wage as it is, and to add more work might seem downright cruel. However, if you have a list of valid sources to turn to time and time again, you can definitely cut back your research time. (You’ll also become known for your accuracy and professionalism. This stuff comes around, and there will come a time when employers will pay you more for that.)

Here are some of the websites I consider great resources:

U.S. Census Bureau

The World FactBook (Even this one is questionable for things like country histories. It offers a very American-based interpretation.)

Questia (It’s an online library that does require a small charge, but if you do a lot of research, it’s well worth the money.)

College Library Websites (For many of them, you don’t have to actually go to the school to get access to online databases.)

Library of Congress

Avalon Project

New York Public Library Digital Collections

JSTOR (This is another one that requires a paid subscription but can be well worth the money.)