How to Evaluate Information: Where to Find Credible Medical Publications
Whether your research is for academic, health writing, personal or clinical study purposes, having access to credible medical publications is crucial to ensure the credibility of the information provided in your work. However, determining what information is credible is the first step towards understanding why making use of our extensive database of medical publications relevant to the African continent benefits your research.
Questions to ask before utilising information are briefly discussed below.
Who Published the Information?
Peer-reviewed medical publications are credible as healthcare professionals and experts in the particular field of study review the articles and reports published to determine quality. You will be glad to know that we carefully select publications to include in our database. As such, only highly respected publications form part of the collection.
Does the Information Support Previous Findings?
Science can be wrong and new studies often contradict previous findings, which is why it is unwise to base an article or study on the findings of a single study in a particular body of knowledge. If all the evidence and results from previous studies by credible institutions and professionals have conclusions that differ from the new study, it is best to search for more information to substantiate the findings of the new study.
If you cannot find articles or reports in other medical publications in support of the new study, it proves that further research is needed. It can take several years before more data is available to support the findings of the study.
Finding credible sources of information against and in support of studies is possible if you have access to a comprehensive collection of medical publications, as is available through our platform.
Trustworthiness of the Media
If you are presenting information in support of your argument to a committee, parliament, court, or any other authority, it is essential that the information comes from highly credible sources. If the information is derived from news reports or television discussions, you cannot rely on the reporting alone. As such, you will want to study the articles or reports from the medical publications referenced by the presenters or reporters.
Having online access to bibliographic information and full-text articles from trusted medical publications is certainly beneficial in terms of time savings, cost-effectiveness, and credibility of the due diligence to determine the accuracy of information.
What About Information from Health Experts on the Internet?
Many health experts and institutions publish valuable information on the Internet. As a researcher, it is best to study the citations provided at their websites or in their videos. If the citations are from trusted medical publications relevant to the African continent, you will find it easy to locate those articles in our collection. We offer various means to find information including, but not limited to:
- Search facility with the standard or quick reference search method, allowing you to search with keywords.
- Advanced search facility that includes Boolean operators such as AND, OR & NOT, as well as filters according to dates, titles, authors, publications and more.
- Top-of-page navigation that allows for browsing and vertical drilling down through categories.
Credibility of the Platform
The final question is whether the platform through which you gain access to information is credible. We meet every requirement in terms of credibility. Sabinet African Journals is one of the most respected online platforms for access to more than 600 highly credible journal titles and thousands of full-text articles relevant to the African continent. We provide access to medical publications of note. Subscribe to the entire collection, a specific category or selected journal titles for access to the articles or pay only for the articles that you want to download.