Basics of Information Search

Source criticism 

During your studies, you will get to know various sources in your field and observe their content from a professional perspective. 

Evaluate the reliability of the source

When examining sources, evaluate the reliability of the author, publication and information. Source criticism is an important part of studying and working skills.

You can start evaluating your sources with the help of the following questions:

Producer of information, i.e. author

• what is known about the author and their background?
• scholar, specialist, amateur?
• previous research and publications?
• background community or organisation?
• point of view represented?
• the author may also be a community

Publication

• where is it published, name of the journal or series?
• publisher, sponsors?
• target audience, for whom is it intended?

Content

• up-to-date?
• objective?
• verifiable sources provided?

Source references

Reference styles

Source references can be given using a number of different reference systems. Reference systems used in Metropolia include:

• the numbered reference system (so-called Vancouver system)
• the name-year system (so-called Harvard system)

Your degree programme will provide you with detailed information on the system used in your field.                                     

Save your references!

When you find interesting articles or books, record their information. In MetCat Finna, you can save reference information onto your account by clicking on the pin icon. This will save you the trouble of looking for them later! 

Plagiarism

Plagiarism, or unacknowledged borrowing, refers to representing another person’s material as one’s own without appropriate references. This includes research plans, manuscripts, articles, other texts or parts of them, visual materials, or translations. Plagiarism includes direct copying as well as adapted copying. (Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK: RCR violations)

Turnitin

Metropolia uses the originality checking software Turnitin. All Bachelor’s and Master’s theses must be checked before the thesis is submitted for evaluation. 

Find out about copyright

​Do you know when you require a licence to use images, music and audio-visual material? 
Copyright also protects your creations.

ImagOA - open science and use of images

• Permitted uses in thesis and teaching materials 
• Citation methods 
• Creative Commons licenses
• Open image databases
• Use in social media
• Photographs as personal information

Kopiraittila Academy

In Kopiraittila Academy, you will learn the basic concepts of copyright, such as what rights copyright gives to the author and when a permission is needed to use works. You can test your knowledge with quizzes and earn the Copyright Expert badge. 

Copyright organisations in Finland

• Gramex  - Music rights collective management organisation
• Kopiosto - For authors and publishers
• Kuvasto - For artists working in the field of visual arts
• Sanasto - Finnish literary copyright society
• Teosto  - Finnish Composers Copyright Society 
• APFI - Audiovisual Producers Finland

Media literacy – recognise fake news

How to spot fake news?

​Consider the source - Click away from the story to investigate the site, it's mission and it's contact info.

Check the author - Do a quick search on the author. Are they credible? Are they real?

Check the date - Reposting old news stories doesn't mean they're relevant to current events.

Check your biases - Consider if your own beliefs could affect your judgement.

Read beyond - Headlines can be outrageous in an effort to get clicks. What's the whole story?

Supporting sources? - Click on those links. Determine if the info given actually supports the story.

Is it a joke? - If it is too outlandish, it might be a satire. Research the site and author to be sure.

Ask the experts - Ask a librarian, or consult a fact-checking site.