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How do you go about researching an article that will be well received by the community? The key isn't how much research that you do, but the type of research that you are going to be doing for that article. The whole idea behind writing an article is to bring something to the table that will be read by the intended audience, and will be enjoyed and appreciated. It is important then to recognize this before you even start your research.

Say you were writing an article about video games, and what the hot games are going to be this year. You usually wouldn't want to go out and interview a seven year old for an article, but you might want to in this case. It might even behoove you you to a sports website, or one of the million fan sites out there to get some information. It might not be a formal source, but it is authoritative considering what you are writing about.

Now, if you were writing an article about college tuition, and how it effects education, you might want to get some more formal sources. A good source might be a college itself, and a couple professors. Maybe you talk about how the cost affects kids based on race, or other factors in upbringing such as where they lived, and how much the parents made. Let's say the intended audience was a person who might consider running for Congress on this issue, you might want to use formal sources.

The topic and audience are what will be your motivation for what you want to research. I remember growing up and having to only use books, encyclopedias, and other "formal" sources to do research. With the Internet, there are just webpages, and what the source of that site is. Very rarely will you actually read the book, or encyclopedia, you will read the Internet site for that source instead. This means that you can get that source from a secondary source.

Secondary sources become more popular in that way. It used to be you would want to use those sources sparingly, but you can use them more and more these days because in some ways it can be very easy to verify whether it is a fact or not. There are still many reputable sources out there such as newspapers, major networks, and other avenues. You have to take everything with a grain of salt, but for sourcing purposes, all you really need to ask is if that information makes sense, and can you defend using it if need be.

Finding good sources for your articles is becoming a lot easier these days. You just need to know what is a legitimate source of information, and what might not be so legitimate. Also, know your audience, and know the tone and topic. That will guide your writing, and your research for the article.

Learn more about this author, Cody Hodge.
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