These search engines retrieve open source academic journals.
When deciding if a webpage is reliable, you should ask yourself the following questions.
| Question | Reasoning |
| Who? | Only cite authors who have some credentials that qualify them to talk about the subject. |
| What? | Identify the type of research you need--most online forums, blogs, or presentations are not peer reviewed. |
| When? | Use research from websites that regularly maintained to insure that the information isn't outdated. |
| Where? | Material should be available on academic websites--pay attention to the quality of the website. Avoid .coms and .nets. |
| Why? | Know why you need the information, and also why the information was published. Avoid biased websites. |
| How? |
Webpages should cite their information so you know how the information was gathered. |
The following websites for manuals can be useful if you do not have access to a manual text.
The Chicago Manual of Style website allows users to search within both, the 15th edition and the 16th edition of the manual. The website offers handy tools such as Manuscript Preparation guidelines for electronic submissions, guidelines for preparing tables and math, as well as artwork. Also available in the Tools section are proofreader's remarks, examples of submission letters, and the Chicago Manual of Style Quick guide.
A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Thesis, and Dissertations
A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Thesis, and Dissertations website covers the 8th edition of the style manual. The website contains a table of contents that is useful to help find formatting sections in the text. The website also offers a Turabian quick guide with examples of Notes and Bibliography citation, as well as Author- Date citation.
The MLA Handbook website covers the 8th edition of the manual. The website contains quick guides with examples of formatting according to the MLA handbook. The examples come with comment boxes with the corresponding page number in the book for the example given. Also available are plenty of tools such as popular topics including Dictionary 101, whether notes are compatible with MLA, and citing eBooks. The MLA website also features its own blog "Behind the Style" with a lot more interesting topics.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
The APA style website covers the 6th edition of the manual. The website has links for each section of the style manual. Also available are visual tutorials of formatting according to APA guidelines. Users will also find a Quick Answers section for formatting and reference, the APA Style Blog, and an FAQ section.
The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University offers users many writing resources, including APA, MLA, and Chicago Manual style assistance. There is a link to OWL's YouTube channel to access OWLVidCasts, the writing resource's webcasts on grammar, rhetoric, and APA and MLA style guides.
