With so much information available on the Internet, do doctoral students even need to go the library anymore? Why limit yourself to the books and journals inside one building when you can have unfettered access to the countless articles available online. More is better, right?

Wrong. When it comes to serious academic research, limits are actually a good thing.

Consider how an article makes its way into a scholarly journal. After it is conceived, researched, and written, its path to the public is only half done; the harder part still lies ahead. The article’s author sends it off to the editor of a journal, who then sends it on to several independent readers—all scholars in the field. They read it blind, not knowing who wrote it, so their recommendations will be based on the quality of the work: Is the topic sufficiently cutting-edge? Is the methodology scientific?  Are the most important resources considered? Are the arguments solid? Do the conclusions follow from the evidence? If the readers’ assessments are negative, the article will probably die with them; if positive, the editor will probably get involved and give it a personal review. Perhaps it’s good, but not as good as some of the other submissions. Rejection. It’s Darwinian survival of the fittest of the academic kind. Or perhaps it’s good, but needs some polishing—back to the author for the necessary revisions. And then finally, months later, maybe—just maybe—it sees the light of day.

Then consider how an Internet-based article makes its way to the same public. The author has an idea. Maybe he researches it, maybe he doesn’t; maybe she considers the most important resources and alternative points of view, maybe not. It gets written—maybe well, maybe poorly; it doesn’t matter, because there’s nobody to stop this article from seeing the light of day. The author is satisfied, so it gets uploaded to the Internet. And there it is for the world to see. Timely? Scientific? Carefully researched? Well argued? Based on solid evidence? These determinations are made by one person alone: the author.

Publishing in a journal involves gatekeepers who verify that the article meets scholarly standards. Publishing online involves an Internet connection—not necessarily anything more. Of course, many articles in scholarly journals are made available online—that gives us the best of both worlds. But when it comes to articles written directly for the Web, the researcher must beware: Just because it’s published doesn’t mean it’s good.

The Internet has changed the face of research forever—and that’s just as it should be. But until all peer reviewed books and journals are available online, it would be unwise to fill up that dissertation bibliography with Internet sources. In short, as indispensable as the Internet is for serious research today, don’t trade in your library card just yet!

Have some thoughts on Web research in academic writing? Leave us a COMMENT to share your ideas and your experience.

ALBERT—Read more about this editor