Match the source to the question
Scholarly research and synthesis form the foundation for historical, linguistic and cultural interpretation. Documented primary material supplies evidence about particular texts, objects and records. Official contemporary records support statistics and the status of public acts. Edited institutional reference works help establish terminology and background.
Assess each work individually. A university domain, DOI or journal title does not establish the quality or purpose of every item it hosts. A press release, research article, review and opinion piece are different types of material.
Read the actual work
Verify authorship, relevant expertise, publication type and review status. Read the relevant full text, argument, methods and limitations. Check corrections, retractions and later scholarship that may change the conclusion. Use lawful access; defer a claim when adequate evidence cannot be read.
Record the edition, version, access date and exact passage. Several websites repeating a single study do not provide independent corroboration. A source must support the actual wording, place and period of the claim.
Keep the evidentiary chain clear
Research references must lead to eligible publications, institutional collections or responsible public authorities. Wikipedia, general blogs, travel sites, forums, social media, anonymous aggregators and commercial ancestry claims are not published evidence here. Search snippets may suggest a lead but cannot verify a claim.
Preprints, unreviewed working papers, student assignments and unassessed dissertations cannot serve as an article’s foundation. Exceptional research material needs a qualified assessment and an explicit statement of its status.
Show uncertainty and provenance
Keep qualified conclusions qualified. Distinguish archaeological cultures, languages, ethnic identities, states and genetic ancestry. Do not infer exact borders or a single date of origin from evidence that cannot support them.
Figures, maps, photographs and audio require their own provenance and rights checks. Important translations and quotations need a person competent in the language and subject. A modern reconstruction must not be presented as direct ancient evidence.
Make references useful
Place numbered citations beside the statements they support and give complete bibliographic details with useful locators. Identify a dataset’s measure, population, geography and reference period. Name the holding institution and identifier for an object or archive item.
Each article must have an accountable editor and the review appropriate to its subject. Read the editorial process and report a possible correction.