Mechanical Engineering

The RADAR is one framework is to help evaluate the quality, credibility, and relevance of any source of information.

Relevance – Does the information relate to your topic? 

• Do you need more sources on this specific aspect of your topic? 
• Who is the intended audience?

Authority – Who or what is the source of the information? Who is the author or publisher?

• Check the credentials or qualifications of the author or publisher. Does the author have credibility through education or experience to be writing on the topic?

Date – When was the information published or last updated?

• Do you need the most recent information on your topic?
• Historical sources can be relevant and may need to be used to provide context.

Appearance – What does the source of information look like?

• Consider where the information was published. For example, is it published as a webpage, in an academic journal, in a trade publication, etc.?
• Consider the way the information is presented: articles supported by evidence and citations are more credible, while editorials, opinion pieces, and blog posts may be more subjective.
• Check who/what the author references and evaluate the quality of the information they use to support their argument.

Reason (for creation) – Why was the information published in the first place?

• Is the information created to inform, teach, entertain, persuade, sell something, or for some other reason?
• Are there any clear biases in the information? To what degree is the information objective and impartial?

RADAR is not a yes/no test, or a be-all and end-all guide. It is meant to help you review the quality of the information you are reading. 

Content adapted from Mandalios, J. (2013). RADAR: An approach for helping students evaluate Internet sources. Journal of Information Science, 39(4), 470-478.

No matter where you get your information, you need to make sure you critically evaluate each source to ensure it’s appropriate for your research! Many publications have a particular bias, agenda or inaccurate information, which may not be obvious at first glance, but rest assured that your professor will know. 

Predatory Publishers

In addition, there are "predatory publishers." These are unethical publishers that prioritize profit making over quality research. They ignore proper editorial and publishing standards, lack transparency, and use tactics such as rapid publication timelines and low APCs (article processing charges) for authors to publish their articles as open access (i.e. publishing an article so it is freely available without anyone having to purchase it). These tactics can draw in authors who have the pressure to publish in academia.

“Predatory journals and publishers are entities that prioritize self-interest at the expense of scholarship and are characterized by false or misleading information, deviation from best editorial and publication practices, a lack of transparency, and/or the use of aggressive and indiscriminate solicitation practices.”
Predatory Journals No Definition No Defense, Nature, December 11, 2019

Before clicking, downloading, or citing an article, pause and ask yourself the following questions:

• Do I know this journal? Have I heard of the publisher or creator? Can I find it through UBC Library? 

Many of the Library’s databases that you are becoming familiar with (Medline, Compendex, Web of Science, etc.)  filter out predatory content, but publications found through Google or Google Scholar do not have those vetting processes in place. 

Here are some additional questions to consider when looking at the journal's website. 

• Writing: Are there typos, repetition in writing, poor grammar? What about the images used on their website? Are images of poor quality? 
• Editorial board. Many predatory journals have a fake editorial board. It might be difficult to tell if it is fake or not. Look up the journal editors. What can you find out about them? Are they associated with an institution or company that can verify their association? You'll need to do more checks though because sometimes academic researchers are added to editorial boards without knowing. 

• Peer review turnaround. Does the journal offer to peer review or publish articles with a very quick turn around, sometimes days or a week? 

Peer review is an important process in academic publishing where papers submitted for publication are evaluated by experts in the same field to determine if they can be published. The peer review process can take several months and up to a year as it ensures the quality, validity, and originality of the research. A journal that offers a very quick peer review is a red flag. 

A reputable journal such as Traffic Injury Prevention "publishes research on medicine, engineering, public health, and traffic safety in order to foster the science of traffic injury prevention." (Retrieved from: https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/gcpi20/about-this-journal). In the "About" section of this journal it clearly states that it follows rigorous and ethical peer review guidelines as established by COPE (the Committee on Publication Ethics), an international organization committed to publishing ethics. The publisher of this journal is Taylor & Francis one of the big five internationally recognized scholarly publishers. 

• General title. Another marker of a predatory publisher is a journal with vague subject coverage. For example, the Global Journal of Science, Arts, Technology, and Medicine sounds unclear about what it exactly publishes. Compare that title to Traffic Injury Prevention where the scope of the field is fairly narrow. 

The Library's databases such as Web of Science, Compendex Engineering Village or PubMed are good places to check to see if the journal is "indexed" there. Can you find the journal in one or more of these databases? 

Example of a Web of Science publication search demonstrating a well know journal for injury biomechanics:

Predatory journals will claim to be indexed by recognized academic databases such as Web of Science, but when you actually check the database it isn't listed.

What about Google Scholar?

Although we use Google Scholar to help find information, it pulls information from worldwide sources and is not transparent about how its search functions. Predatory journals are often found in Google Scholar search results. 

Example with all three results here are from the same predatory publisher and have been cited by other papers:

DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals). Indexing in DOAJ is a good indication of the quality of an open access journal, but it is not a guarantee although they do regular checks and will remove any predatory content that may have gotten through. Use the strategies mentioned in this guide to further assess the journal.

Ulrichsweb provides detailed, comprehensive, and authoritative information on serials published throughout the world. It covers all subjects, and includes publications that are published regularly or irregularly and are circulated free of charge or by paid subscription.