Cultivate an attitude of skepticism when it comes to web-based content.  If you have any doubt whatsoever about the reliability of any given website, clear it with your instructor or check with a librarian before you use it in your paper.

Last year, Google search users began seeing AI summaries at the top of their search results pages. In Spring 2025, the Pew Research Center conducted a study on how people use AI in conjunction with Google search. Here is some of what they found:

• Google users who encounter an AI summary are less likely to click on links to other websites than users who do not see one.
• Google users are more likely to end their browsing session entirely after visiting a search page with an AI summary than on pages without a summary. 

Questions to consider when using AI summary with Google search:

• Does having an AI summary of Google search results actually save you time? 
• Are your results more accurate?            
• Are you finding reliable information/sources?
  
  Image:  CC BY-SA 2.0

Here is what Wikipedia itself has to say about using Wikipedia for academic research:

• "Wikipedia can be a great tool for learning and researching information. However, as with all tertiary reference works, Wikipedia is not considered to be a reliable source as not everything in Wikipedia is accurate, comprehensive, or unbiased. Wikipedia, like other encyclopedias, is intended to provide an overview of topics and indicate sources of more extensive and academic information.
• "...you should question the appropriateness of citing any encyclopedia as a source or reference...most secondary schools and institutions of higher learning do not consider encyclopedias, in general, a proper citable source." This is especially noteworthy considering anyone can edit Wikipedia information given at any time.
• "Information in Wikipedia is often accompanied by a reference. You can use Wikipedia to find the source of the information and cite that. Indeed, Wikipedia can often be a good starting point for research to other sources of information."

When using Wikipedia for background research, it's best to follow two simple rules:

1)  Do your research properly.  Remember that any encyclopedia is a starting point for research, not an ending point.

2)  Use your judgment. Remember that all sources have to be evaluated.

For more on what Wikipedia says about Wikipedia and academic research, see:

Wikipedia: Researching with Wikipedia

You may also want to use the Cite Unseen widget, which scrolls through citations in Wikipedia articles and inserts icons denoting the type/reliability of each source listed.

Finding what you need on comprehensive websites can be time-consuming. Look for sitemap to locate specific materials, or use this handy trick:

• Open Google search bar
• Type in search term(s)
• Type in "site" + ":" [colon symbol] followed by the URL.

This technique will yield search results for your keyword(s) only within the website URL.

Narrowing your results:

You can search by specific domains. For example, if you only want government jobs sites, you can search "jobs" +  "site:.gov" .

You can also also search for specific file types. For example, to search for a PDF document on jobs, search "jobs" + filetype:PDF.