Evaluating and Citing Internet Sources Pamela Fried, MBA, Director Diana Winters, BA, Associate Director Academic Publishing Services and Gary M. Childs, MS Education Librarian—Hahnemann Library Select slide content provided by Stephen Gambescia, PhD, MEd, MBA, CHES, Assistant Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, College of Nursing and Health Professions and Steven Bogel, MLS, Information Services Librarian, Hahnemann Hospital Academic Publishing Services (APS) does not serve as legal counsel to Drexel University College of Medicine or to individual authors. Information received from APS does not constitute legal advice. Individuals should consult their own attorneys or the Office of the General Counsel, as appropriate, with respect to legal questions or concerns about their publishing activities and copyrights.

Purpose Evaluate Internet sources Rank scientific information by level of evidence Cite Internet sources appropriately

Evaluate Internet sources

Types of Internet Sources The Internet is a pathway to depositories of sources. The Internet allows retrieval of a primary source at another location, e.g., journal (periodical) that is accessed online. The Internet itself holds information that could be used as a source (usually considered secondary or tertiary source), e.g., Web pages.

Types of Information Sources Primary information source Must be the original scientific evidence Must conform to acceptable scientific standards for conducting and reporting such research Must pass peer review American Public Health Association: Chiropractic Health Care; Washington DC: What are authoritative sources for scientific evidence-based and peer-reviewed information?

Types of Information Sources Secondary information source Integrates scientific evidence from a number of original research studies (review article) Conforms to scientifically acceptable methodological standards for gathering, synthesizing, and reporting the available evidence Should be peer-reviewed American Public Health Association: Chiropractic Health Care; Washington DC: What are authoritative sources for scientific evidence-based and peer-reviewed information?

Types of Information Sources Tertiary information source Information drawn from primary and secondary articles that are peer reviewed: e.g., textbook (may or may not be peer reviewed) Summary of the information available on a topic, selected in an unbiased manner American Public Health Association: Chiropractic Health Care; Washington DC: What are authoritative sources for scientific evidence-based and peer-reviewed information?

Evaluating a Web Site.com.edu.gov.net.?

Evaluating a Web site Accuracy Authority Objectivity Currency or timeliness

Rank scientific information by level of evidence

What is EBM*? EBP marks a paradigm shift from traditional decision making in medicine Intuition Unsystematic clinical experience Pathophysiological rationale *EBM = evidence-based medicine; EBP = evidence-based practice

What is EBM? Common definition: The conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients Integrating clinical expertise with the best available external evidence from systematic research Thoughtful and compassionate use of patient values -Sackett, BMJ 1996;312, 71-2

The Evidence Hierarchy From:

What Are Systematic Reviews? Focus on a clinical topic and answer a specific question Extensive literature search for all studies with sound methodology Results summarized to answer the question For example: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews --Connie Schardt, Health Science Library, Duke University

What Is a Meta-Analysis? Takes systematic reviews a step further by pooling data from individual studies as if it was one large study Synthesizes many studies Uses statistical methods to combine data from two or more studies Connie Schardt, Health Science Library, Duke University

What Is a Wiki? Wiki = piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit Web page content using any Web browser Wikipedia and other wikis Most are not peer-reviewed. None publish original research. Anyone can contribute to or alter a page. At best, most wikis are secondary or tertiary sources—not primary.

Cite Internet sources appropriately

Why Use References? Documentation Acknowledgment Link to additional information or resources

Citing Web Sources Web site content may change frequently. Web site may disappear. Print and online versions of an article or publication may differ.

Citing Web Sources Print a copy Check links repeatedly throughout publication process Note date accessed Include DOI/PMID* if journal requires *DOI = digital object identifier; PMID = PubMed unique identifier

Citing Web Sources Patrias, K. Citing medicine: the NLM style guide for authors, editors, and publishers [Internet]. 2nd ed. Wendling, DL, technical editor. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); 2007 [updated 2009 Jan 14; cited 2009 Mar 23]. Available from: Books and Other Individual Titles on the Internet Journals on the Internet Databases/Retrieval Systems on the Internet Web sites Electronic Mail and Discussion Forums

Minimum acceptable data: Author (organization) Title Name of Web site URL Date accessed A URL alone is not sufficient! Citing a Web site

Let’s Try Searching for Information! Some suggested databases to locate EBM information are: MEDLINE (using EBM filters) “Clinical Queries” National Guidelines Clearinghouse (NGC) Turning Research Into Practice (TRIP) The Cochrane Library

For Further Information Academic Publishing Services Pamela Fried and Diana Winters Hahnemann Library Resource Department Gary M. Childs