Make Research Your Superpower

Solid research is often needed to ensure that an article offers its readers valuable information from reliable sources. Whether the topic is as simple as how to organize a closet or as life-changing as whether to consider entering a drug rehab program, your mission as an author is to provide content that is as accurate, authoritative, and up-to-date as possible.

To do this well, you need to search efficiently for what you need, decide which sources best serve your purpose, and present the data you take from them effectively.

Mastering the art of research can not only delight your editors at Textbroker but also take you far as you pursue your writing career. Discovering and delivering intriguing facts and story angles that everyone else missed is a superpower that often distinguishes prizewinning reporters and feature writers from those whose work is merely adequate. So, on to the digital scavenger hunt!

Basic Searching

Using a search engine is not as straightforward as it seems. As the computer geeks say, “Garbage in, garbage out.” For instance, say you want to find the population of Cincinnati. When you Google the term “Cincinnati population,” the top result shows a 2020 U.S. Census estimate of 302,687. But it’s 2022 now, so you want this year’s number.

You scroll down a bit and find a 2022 figure of 1,764,000. What? How could the population have exploded that much in just two years? Take a closer look, and you find that the 2020 figure is for the city proper, while the 2022 figure is for the entire metro area. So, you scroll down a bit more until you see that the estimated 2022 population within the Cincinnati city limits is 311,791. That looks like a reasonable increase over the 2020 figure, so you go with it.

You could save a lot of time by starting with the more efficient search term “Cincinnati city limits population 2022.” When you do this, you will find that the top two results are estimates of 311,080 and 311,791, both from reliable sources. You can accurately use something like “estimated at more than 311,000” in your text.

Digging Deeper

Finding the most up-to-date information is even more important when you’re writing about something serious and sensitive, such as treatments for various mental disorders.

You need to familiarize yourself with the field enough to know that mental health clinicians rely on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association. You also need to be aware that significant changes (like combining four previously separate conditions in the newly named autism spectrum disorder) marked the 2013 transition from the fourth edition (DSM-4) to the fifth (DSM-5), which is currently in use. Otherwise, you’ll risk offering information that is embarrassingly out of date.

You can’t trust a search engine to conveniently present the most recent information at the top of the page. You need to check the date on every source you consider using to make sure it has the most recent information available on a given topic.

Next, you need to decide whether your source is:

• Authoritative, like WebMD for medical topics or Bob Vila for home improvement rather than Wikipedia or blogs by random individuals with no acknowledged expertise

• Appropriate for your audience: for a U.S. plant safety article, OSHA regulations rather than safety procedures in Indonesian factories

• Objective and neutral, fact-based rather than slanted to sell a product or promote a point of view: Be careful not to use any source that could be considered a competitor of the client.

Presenting Your Research

If a fact or statistic is not common knowledge, you need to cite an authority, using a hyperlink with appropriate anchor text. For example, everyone knows that Arizona has hot summers, but the date when the mercury shot up to a record-breaking 131 degrees needs attribution.

Are you offering information the reader needs to know or would probably like to know?

Does it fit the subject matter, or does it wander off-topic?

Is the information complete and specific or sketchy and vague? Avoid overly general statements like “Experts agree …” or “Studies show …” Instead, nail down the source like this: “In a study conducted in 2021, researchers at Boston University found that …”

Are you presenting the information objectively? Make sure you’re not injecting any personal opinion, whether it’s as trivial as “Cap’n Crunch is healthier than Cocoa Puffs” or as serious as “Marijuana abuse is a moral failing.”

If a subject is controversial, state experts’ views on both sides, with a brief explanation of each. For example: “Veterinarian A says wombats make great house pets because they love to cuddle; Veterinarian B says you can’t keep wombats indoors because they refuse to use a litter box.”

Accuracy

Did you accurately represent what your source said? It’s easy to misquote a source when you’re in a hurry, even if you just looked at it, and we see many instances of this.

Examples:

The author writes that experts say 68 degrees is the best thermostat setting for summer, and 78 degrees is best for winter. The truth, clearly stated in the source, is the exact opposite.

The author writes that metal roofing materials typically cost $120 to $900 per square foot. The source actually states this as the price range “per square” and explains that a square equals 100 square feet.

Here are some ways to avoid misquoting sources:

• Copy and paste the section you want to quote so that there’s no chance of getting it wrong.

• Even if you’re on deadline, take a few seconds to double-check the source and make sure you quoted it accurately.

• Before you submit the order, read it over to make sure everything makes sense, and nothing looks odd or out of place. If something jumps out at you, take the time to check it once again.

A thorough review of everything you write for publication is never a waste of time. It saves time, because an article that leaves nothing in question will be easy to edit and send to the client. You won’t get it back with a revision request.

Anchor Text

Every hyperlink requires anchor text. Its purpose is to engage the reader by highlighting a key fact, statistic, or product. In the examples that follow, different choices of anchor text for the same sentence appear in bold. Which one would you choose?

1. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that indoor air in America can be two to five times as polluted as the air outside.

2. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that indoor air in America can be two to five times as polluted as the air outside.

3. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that indoor air in America can be two to five times as polluted as the air outside.

4. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that indoor air in America can be two to five times as polluted as the air outside.

In No. 1, highlighting the source doesn’t give the reader any useful data. No. 2 is a little better because it tells the reader what the EPA was addressing. No. 4 serves no purpose; it simply shows words chosen at random by someone who didn’t understand the purpose of anchor text. No. 3 is the best choice because it highlights a statistic that might interest the reader.

As you become a research wizard exploring cyberspace, don’t forget the useful sources that are close at hand: your editors. We understand that clients’ instructions can sometimes be lengthy, contradictory, and/or confusing. We’re always here to help you make sense of it all.