Citations as a research tool?
There is so much you can learn and find by looking through the citations of the sources you are using. Citations can help determine the level of credibility your source has or if your source is using outdated research. You can even find new sources, think of it as a "See More Like This" reading list where you can see what sources the authors consulted and if they might be of use to your research.
Citation chaining is an easy and effective way to find new sources just by using the reference list from one source.
Forward chaining involves taking a look what other sources have cited your original source. This can be done quickly and easily through Google Scholar and can also be done through the AU Catalog (note: only materials in the AU/WRLC consortium are included).
Google Scholar:
When searching an article title in Google Scholar you can see within the red box that 94 other sources have cited this article. By clicking on that 94 you can all those articles and determine if any might be relevant to your research.
AU Catalog:
When searching an article title within the AU catalog you can see inside the red box an up arrow that will show you all the sources within the catalog that have cited this article.
Backward chaining involves using the reference list of your original source to "mine" for more relevant sources to your topic.
Example: This is just a small section of what a reference list for an article might look like and sifting through these sources can be made easier with the use of hyperlinks, as seen.
