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Library science articles from across Nature Portfolio

Latest research and reviews.

The effect of prosocial behavior and its intensity on doctors’ performance in an online health community

• Yuguang Xie
• Shuping Zhao

What factors influence the intention to adopt blockchain technology in accounting education?

• Hamood Mohammed Al-Hattami

Digital financial inclusion in micro enterprises: understanding the determinants and impact on ease of doing business from World Bank survey

• Mohammad Asif
• Mohammad Wasiq

Big data visualisation in regional comprehensive economic partnership: a systematic review

What determines digital accounting systems’ continuance intention? An empirical investigation in SMEs

• Faozi A. Almaqtari

What makes deceptive online reviews? A linguistic analysis perspective

News and Comment

Pandemic publishing poses a new COVID-19 challenge

The scientific community’s response to COVID-19 has resulted in a large volume of research moving through the publication pipeline at extraordinary speed, with a median time from receipt to acceptance of 6 days for journal articles. Although the nature of this emergency warrants accelerated publishing, measures are required to safeguard the integrity of scientific evidence.

• Adam Palayew
• Ole Norgaard
• Jeffrey V. Lazarus

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Library Research Methods

• Evaluating Websites
• Citing Sources
• Productivity Tools for Scholars

(Adapted from Thomas Mann, Library Research Models )

Keyword searches . Search relevant keywords in catalogs, indexes, search engines, and full-text resources. Useful both to narrow a search to the specific subject heading and to find sources not captured under a relevant subject heading. To search a database effectively, start with a Keyword search, find relevant records, and then find relevant Subject Headings. In search engines, include many keywords to narrow the search and carefully evaluate what you find.

Subject searches .  Subject Headings (sometimes called Descriptors) are specific terms or phrases used consistently by online or print indexes to describe what a book or journal article is about. This is true of the library’s Catalog as well as many other library databases . 

Look for recent, scholarly books and articles. Within catalogs and databases, sort by the most recent date and look for books from scholarly presses and articles from scholarly journals. The more recent the source, the more up-to-date the references and citations.

Citation searches in scholarly sources .  Track down references, footnotes, endnotes, citations, etc. within relevant readings. Search for specific books or journals in the library’s Catalog . This technique helps you become part of the scholarly conversation on a particular topic.

Searches through published bibliographies (including sets of footnotes in relevant subject documents).  Published bibliographies on particular subjects (Shakespeare, alcoholism, etc.) often list sources missed through other kinds of searches. BIBLIOGRAPHY is a subject heading in the Catalog , so a Guided Search with BIBLIOGRAPHY as a Subject and your topic as a keyword will help you find these.

Searches through people sources (whether by verbal contact, e-mail, etc.). People are often more willing to help than you might think. The people to start with are often professors with relevant knowledge or librarians.

Systematic browsing, especially of full-text sources arranged in predictable subject groupings . Libraries organize books by subject, with similar books shelved together.  Browsing the stacks is a good way to find similar books; however, in large libraries, some books are not in the main stacks (e.g., they might be checked out or in ReCAP), so use the catalog as well.

The advantages of trying all these research methods are that:

Each of these ways of searching is applicable in any subject area

None of them is confined exclusively to English-language sources

Each has both strengths and weaknesses, advantages and disadvantages

The weaknesses within any one method are balanced by the strengths of the others

The strength of each is precisely that it is capable of turning up information or knowledge records that cannot be found efficiently—or often even at all—by any of the others

How to Gut a (Scholarly) Book in 5 Almost-easy Steps

Evaluating sources.

From Wayne C. Booth et al., The Craft of Research , 4th ed., pp.76-79

5.4 EVALUATING SOURCES FOR RELEVANCE AND RELIABILITY When you start looking for sources, you’ll find more than you can use, so you must quickly evaluate their usefulness; use two criteria: relevance and reliability.

5.4.1 Evaluating Sources for Relevance

If your source is a book, do this:

• Skim its index for your key words, then skim the pages on which those words occur.
• Skim the first and last paragraphs in chapters that use a lot of your key words.
• Skim prologues, introductions, summary chapters, and so on.
• Skim the last chapter, especially the >rst and last two or three pages.
• If the source is a collection of articles, skim the editor’s introduction.
• Check the bibliography for titles relevant to your topic.

If your source is an article, do this:

• Read the abstract, if it has one.
• Skim the introduction and conclusion, or if they are not marked by headings, skim the first six or seven paragraphs and the last four or five.
• Skim for section headings, and read the first and last paragraphs of those sections.

If your source is online, do this:

• If it looks like a printed article, follow the steps for a journal article.
• Skim sections labeled “introduction,” “overview,” “summary,” or the like. If there are none, look for a link labeled “About the Site” or something similar.
• If the site has a link labeled “Site Map” or “Index,” check it for your key words and skim the referenced pages.
• If the site has a “search” resource, type in your key words.

This kind of speedy reading can guide your own writing and revision. If you do not structure your report so your readers can skim it quickly and see the outlines of your argument, your report has a problem, an issue we discuss in chapters 12 and 14.

5.4.2 Evaluating Sources for Reliability You can’t judge a source until you read it, but there are signs of its reliability:

1. Is the source published or posted online by a reputable press? Most university presses are reliable, especially if you recognize the name of the university. Some commercial presses are reliable in some fields, such as Norton in literature, Ablex in sciences, or West in law. Be skeptical of a commercial book that makes sensational claims, even if its author has a PhD after his name. Be especially careful about sources on hotly contested social issues such as stem-cell research, gun control, and global warming. Many books and articles are published by individuals or organizations driven by ideology. Libraries often include them for the sake of coverage, but don’t assume they are reliable.

2. Was the book or article peer-reviewed? Most reputable presses and journals ask experts to review a book or article before it is published; it is called “peer review.” Many essay collections, however, are reviewed only by the named editor(s). Few commercial magazines use peer review. If a publication hasn’t been peer-reviewed, be suspicious.

3. Is the author a reputable scholar? This is hard to answer if you are new to a field. Most publications cite an author’s academic credentials; you can find more with a search engine. Most established scholars are reliable, but be cautious if the topic is a contested social issue such as gun control or abortion. Even reputable scholars can have axes to grind, especially if their research is financially supported by a special interest group. Go online to check out anyone an author thanks for support, including foundations that supported her work.

4. If the source is available only online, is it sponsored by a reputable organization? A Web site is only as reliable as its sponsor. You can usually trust one sponsored and maintained by a reputable organization. But if the site has not been updated recently, it may have been abandoned and is no longer endorsed by its sponsor. Some sites supported by individuals are reliable; most are not. Do a Web search for the name of the sponsor to find out more about it.

5. Is the source current? You must use up-to-date sources, but what counts as current depends on the field. In computer science, a journal article can be out-of-date in months; in the social sciences, ten years pushes the limit. Publications have a longer life in the humanities: in philosophy, primary sources are current for centuries, secondary ones for decades. In general, a source that sets out a major position or theory that other researchers accept will stay current longer than those that respond to or develop it. Assume that most textbooks are not current (except, of course, this one).

If you don’t know how to gauge currency in your field, look at the dates of articles in the works cited of a new book or article: you can cite works as old as the older ones in that list (but perhaps not as old as the oldest). Try to find a standard edition of primary works such as novels, plays, letters, and so on (it is usually not the most recent). Be sure that you consult the most recent edition of a secondary or tertiary source (researchers often change their views, even rejecting ones they espoused in earlier editions).

6. If the source is a book, does it have a notes and a bibliography? If not, be suspicious, because you have no way to follow up on anything the source claims.

7. If the source is a Web site, does it include bibliographical data? You cannot know how to judge the reliability of a site that does not indicate who sponsors and maintains it, who wrote what’s posted there, and when it was posted or last updated.

8. If the source is a Web site, does it approach its topic judiciously? Your readers are unlikely to trust a site that engages in heated advocacy, attacks those who disagree, makes wild claims, uses abusive language, or makes errors of spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

The following criteria are particularly important for advanced students:

9. If the source is a book, has it been well reviewed? Many fields have indexes to published reviews that tell you how others evaluate a source.

10. Has the source been frequently cited by others? You can roughly estimate how influential a source is by how often others cite it. To determine that, consult a citation index.

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• Last Updated: Jul 31, 2024 9:15 AM
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Library Research at Cornell: The Research Steps

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Steps to Effective Library Research

• Identifying and Negotiating a Research Topic How to identify a viable topic and negotiate changes in your topic as you go
• Reference Sources for Background and Context on a Topic Find articles that summarize the topic, explain key concepts, define terminology and much more
• Finding Books Find items held at Cornell (books, videos, journal holdings, etc.)
• Finding Articles Find articles, essays, and book chapters
• Requesting Items not available at Cornell BorrowDirect and Interlibrary Loan
• Evaluating Your sources Some tips on how to evaluate the sources you've found
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Library Jargon: Common Terms Defined

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If you wish to use or adapt any or all of the content of this LibGuide or subsidiary pages, please review our use permissions and Creative Commons license .

Reference Help

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Primary Research Articles

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How Can I Find Primary Research Articles?

Many of the recommended databases in this subject guide contain primary research articles (also known as empirical articles or research studies). Search in databases like ScienceDirect  and MEDLINE .

Primary Research Articles: How Will I Know One When I See One?

Primary research articles  to conduct and publish an experiment or research study, an author or team of authors designs an experiment, gathers data, then analyzes the data and discusses the results of the experiment. a published experiment or research study will therefore  look  very different from other types of articles (newspaper stories, magazine articles, essays, etc.) found in our library databases. the following guidelines will help you recognize a primary research article, written by the researchers themselves and published in a scholarly journal., structure of a primary research article typically, a primary research article has the following sections:.

• The author summarizes her article
• The author discusses the general background of her research topic; often, she will present a literature review, that is, summarize what other experts have written on this particular research topic
• The author describes the study she designed and conducted
• The author presents the data she gathered during her experiment
• The author offers ideas about the importance and implications of her research findings, and speculates on future directions that similar research might take
• The author gives a References list of sources she used in her paper

The structure of the article will often be clearly shown with headings: Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion.

A primary research article will almost always contains statistics, numerical data presented in tables. Also, primary research articles are written in very formal, very technical language.

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Journals contain articles about a shared topic. Articles are written by different authors who may not have anything in common besides their research interest. The highest quality journals require a peer review process where other scholars in the disciple review each others work to verify the rigor of the research before publication.

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You can find journal articles in BU Libraries Search and other library databases. BULS is a great place to start because it searches across the journals and databases that BU subscribes to, so you can search in multiple repositories of knowledge all at once! To search only for articles, select the articles  option when searching your keywords in the BULS search box. 

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New library cohort joins realities of academic data sharing (rads) initiative.

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is delighted to announce the new set of institutions joining the Realities of Academic Data Sharing (RADS) Initiative , a research project aimed at understanding and addressing the complexities and costs associated with managing and sharing data from funded research.

The cohort will join the current RADS institutions—Duke University, the University at Buffalo, the University of Minnesota, and Washington University in St. Louis—and bring unique expertise and perspectives to our collective endeavor.

The institutions joining the RADS cohort are:

• New York University— Research lead: Nicholas Wolf, Co-Head, Data Services and Research Data Management Librarian
• University of Arizona— Research lead: Fernando Rios, Associate Specialist, Research Data Management
• University of Hawaiʻi (UH) at Mānoa— Research lead: Hejin Shin, Data Services Librarian (joining UH Mānoa September 16)
• University of Kentucky— Research lead: Isaac Wink, Research Data Librarian
• University of Nebraska–Lincoln— Research lead: Leslie Delserone, Professor/Research Data Services & Science Librarian
• University of Nevada, Las Vegas— Research lead: Amanda Koziura, Head, Scholarly Communication and Data Services
• University of South Carolina— Research lead: Stacy Winchester, Research Data Librarian

“I am thrilled that University Libraries at the University of South Carolina will be joining several other institutions in the next phase of the RADS project,” noted David Banush, dean of libraries at the University of South Carolina, who is also a member of the ARL Scholars and Scholarship Committee. “Understanding the full scope of required support for open data is an essential part of making this work viable for the long term.”

The RADS cohort institutions have demonstrated a high level of interest and commitment to advancing the understanding of data management and sharing costs. Participating institutions will receive complimentary institutional membership to the Data Curation Network (DCN) for the term of the research project, with the exception of New York University and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, both of which are current DCN members. The DCN is a membership organization of institutional and nonprofit data repositories whose vision is to advance open research by making data more ethical, reusable, and understandable.

“The University of Arizona Libraries look forward to collaborating with our colleagues in the RADS project to advance sustainable models for openly sharing research data as a core service in research libraries,” said Shan Sutton, dean of University Libraries and Katheryne B. Willock Endowed Chair at the University of Arizona, and member of the ARL Scholars and Scholarship Committee.

This research investigates how various organizational structures and infrastructure models impact expenses for public access to research data. In analyzing these various models, this research will aid institutions in building efficient and coordinated research data infrastructure to meet federal and public policies for data sharing.

“UNLV is pleased to contribute to this critical project that will assist universities in developing necessary infrastructure and cost support to advance research data management,” said Maggie Farrell, dean of University Libraries at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV).

Initially funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) from 2021 to 2023, the RADS Initiative is currently supported by the US Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) ( LG-254930-OLS-23 ) until 2026.

ARL looks forward to the valuable contributions these seven institutions will make to the RADS Initiative. For more information about the initiative, please contact Cynthia Hudson Vitale ( [email protected] ) or Shawna Taylor ( [email protected] ).

About the Association of Research Libraries

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of research libraries in Canada and the US whose vision is to create a trusted, equitable, and inclusive research and learning ecosystem and prepare library leaders to advance this work in strategic partnership with member libraries and other organizations worldwide. ARL’s mission is to empower and advocate for research libraries and archives to shape, influence, and implement institutional, national, and international policy. ARL develops the next generation of leaders and enables strategic cooperation among partner institutions to benefit scholarship and society. ARL is on the web at ARL.org .

About the Institute of Museum and Library Services

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U.S. Newspaper Collections at the Library of Congress

Reference sources.

• Introduction
• How to Find a Newspaper
• U.S. Newspapers Currently Received
• Chronological Index to Microfilm (1940-1989)
• Alabama to Guam
• Hawaii to Louisiana
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There are several types of reference sources that can assist with and enrich newspaper research. Scroll down or click on the source type linked below to explore the sources available in the Newspaper & Current Periodical Reading Room (NCPRR) collections:

Directories

• Bibliographies & Union Lists

Newspaper Histories

Within each section is a description of the type of source and how it can be used for newspaper research, links to significant titles of that source, and a search strategy to find that particular source in the Library of Congress Online Catalog .

Please note that the records in the Library of Congress Online Catalog can sometimes be unreliable, and there may be more reference sources available beyond what you are able to find by searching only the Library of Congress Online Catalog. For questions or assistance with identifying or locating reference sources, please contact the Newspaper & Current Periodical Reading Room where reference librarians are happy to help!

Also included on this page are lists of repositories that hold various Newspaper Morgues and Newspaper Photographic Morgues .

Newspaper indexes list articles classified by subjects, names, personal notices, advertising, illustration, or other items found in a newspaper. If you are looking for coverage of a particular person or event, you can use indexes to possibly find citations that will lead you to specific issues and page numbers for articles. Be aware that for newspapers, there are no comprehensive retrospective indexes covering multiple titles over long time periods, and many newspapers lack any of indexing at all. 

• Print Indexes
• Online Indexes
• Indexes to Newspaper Indexes
• Editor & Publisher Yearbooks
• Search Strategies

Below is a sampling of the newspaper indexes in the Newspaper & Current Periodical Reading Room reference collection; it is not a complete list of every index within the collection. The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog . Links to additional online content are included when available.

Below is a list of some freely available online newspaper indexes.

The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog . Links to additional online content are included when available.

The Lathrop Report on Newspaper Indexes is also freely available online.

The following title links to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog . Links to additional online content are included when available.

Digitized Editor & Publisher Yearbooks

Some volumes of the Editor & Publisher Yearbook from 1909 to 1922 are freely available to search online through HathiTrust External .

• Content Survey & Selective Index for Editor & Publisher International Year Books 1929-1949 (PDF, 480 KB) Compiled by Gary M. Johnson, Reference Librarian in the Newspapers & Government Publications Division (2013)

The following strategies will help you locate newspaper indexes in the Library of Congress Online Catalog :

• Using the Advanced Search , enter the title of the newspaper in the first box and the word "index" the second box, leaving the default "all of these" and "within Keyword Anywhere (GKEY)" for each
• Select "Add Limits" and choose "Newspaper & Current Periodical Reference Collection" from the "Location in the Library" drop-down menu

It can also be helpful to Browse the online catalog using Library of Congress Subject Headings. The following heading structures will assist you in locating newspaper indexes for particular states and regions. Using browse, select "SUBJECTS beginning with" and enter the subject words in order, as seen in the examples below:

• American newspapers-- (state) -- (county name) County--Indexes  Example: American newspapers--Ohio--Scioto County--Indexes
• (Newspaper title) --Indexes--Periodicals Example: Times-picayune, the states-item--Indexes--Periodicals

Most newspaper indexes found in the Newspaper & Current Periodical Reading Room can be found within Call Number A121 .

• Browse CALL NUMBERS (LC Class No.): A121

Newspaper directories identify titles published in specific locations or time periods.

• U.S. Newspaper Directory
• Rowell & Ayer's
• "Newspapers in Microform"
• Other Directories

The U.S. Newspaper Directory is an online directory of newspapers published in the United States since 1690, which can help identify what titles exist for a specific place and time, and how to access them. Use the drop-down menus to select a particular place and time, or use keywords to locate specific titles.

The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are included when available.

• MICROFILM: N.W. Ayers & Sons Directory of Newspapers and Periodicals Call Number: Newspaper Microfilm 3328 This title is also available on microfilm* for the following years: 1869-1892, 1894-1913, 1916-1973 *Please submit a request slip in NCPR to access this collection.

Digitized Rowell's & Ayer's Directories

While no complete set of Rowell's or Ayer's is digitally available online, there is digital access to many of the volumes through various online sources, including HathiTrust, the Internet Archive, Google Books, and the University of North Texas (UNT). Below is a source list with links to the various available volumes found online.

The following strategies will help you locate newspaper directories in the Library of Congress Online Catalog:

• Using the " Advanced Search ," search the various subject headings below in the first box and selecting "Subject: ALL (KSUB)" from the "within" box drop-down menu.

It can also be helpful to Browse the online catalog using Library of Congress Subject Headings. The following heading structures will assist you in locating newspaper directories for particular states and regions. Using browse, select "SUBJECTS beginning with" and enter the subject words in order, as seen in the examples below:

• American newspapers--Directories
• American periodicals--Directories
• Ethnic press--United States--Directories
• Press--United States--Directories

Bibliographies & Union LIsts

Newspaper bibliographies include the title, dates, place of publication as well as a paper's focus. Numerous bibliographies treat newspapers and newspaper history. Union lists present lists of newspapers in geographic arrangement according to place of publication, and specify which libraries or other institutions hold collections of those newspapers and the dates of their holdings. These can also be useful for tracking title changes throughout a newspaper's history.

• Comprehensive U.S.
• Individual State / Region
• Chronological Checklist of U.S. Newspapers

Below is a sampling of the state and regional union lists available in the Newspaper & Current Periodical Reading Room Reference Collection; it is not a complete list of every union list of this type within the collection. The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog . Links to additional online content are included when available.

Chronological Index of Newspapers

Commonly referred to in the Newspaper & Current Periodical Reading Room as "the Green Books," these volumes provide a list of the Division's newspaper holdings by year and geographical location, covering 1801 to 1967. These indexes are helpful with identifying what newspaper holdings the Division has in its collections that published in a particular city and state during a particular year. Please note that this source may contain some outdated holdings information and should not be the only reference source checked to find definitive holdings lists. However, these indexes are a good source to getting a general idea of what we have for a specific place and time.

Two sets of these volumes are available to browse in the Newspaper & Current Periodical Reading Room; one set is located behind the reference desk and the second set is available on the public shelves in the reading room.

The following strategies will help you locate newspaper bibliographies or union lists in the Library of Congress Online Catalog:

• Using the " Advanced Search ," search the various subject headings below in the first box and selecting "Subject: ALL (KSUB)" from the "within" box drop down menu.

It can also be helpful to Browse the online catalog using Library of Congress Subject Headings. The following heading structures will assist you in locating newspaper bibliographies or union catalogs for particular states and regions. Using browse, select "SUBJECTS beginning with" and enter the subject words in order, as seen in the examples below:

• Periodicals--Bibliography--Union lists
• Serial publications--Bibliography--Union lists
• Union catalogs-- (state) Example:  Union catalogs--Pennsylvania
• American newspapers--Bibliography

Comprehensive histories of U.S. newspapers document the diversity and progress of newspaper publishing and offer a good introduction to the topic. Newspaper histories may refer to specific stories or columnists for which the newspaper is known.

Most major newspapers have a published history of the newspaper compiled by the newspaper itself or by independent historians. They may be useful starting points to finding information about journalists—as long as the researcher knows the newspaper for which these particular journalists worked.

Other works cover the history of the printers and printing of newspapers in a state, county, or region more generally, and provide more condensed histories of the editors, journalists, and evolution of the newspapers in a specific area.

• Comprehensive Newspaper Histories
• Individual Newspaper Histories
• State Newspaper Histories

Below is a sampling of the individual newspaper histories available in the Newspaper & Current Periodical Reading Room Reference Collection; it is not a complete list of every individual newspaper history within the collection. The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are included when available.

Below is a sampling of the state newspaper histories available in the Newspaper & Current Periodical Reading Room Reference Collection; it is not a complete list of every state newspaper history within the collection. The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are included when available.

The following strategies will help you locate newspaper histories in the  Library of Congress Online Catalog:

• Using the " Advanced Search ," search the various subject headings below in the first box and select "Subject: ALL (KSUB)" from the "within" box drop-down menu.

It can also be helpful to Browse the online catalog using Library of Congress Subject Headings. The following heading structures will assist you in locating newspaper histories for particular states and regions. Using browse, select "SUBJECTS beginning with" and enter the subject words in order, as seen in the examples below:

• American newspapers--History
• (Newspaper title) --History Example:  New York Times--History
• American newspapers-- (state) Example:  American newspapers--Virginia
• American newspapers-- (state)-- History Example:  American newspapers--Massachusetts -- History
• Printing-- (state) --History Example:   Printing--Pennsylvania--History
• American newspapers-- (state) --Bibliography Example:  American newspapers--Pennsylvania--Bibliography
• Newspaper Morgues

With the term "morgue" in the title, it sounds like this is a place where newspapers go to die. On the contrary, a newspaper morgue refers to where paper collections of newspapers go to live on. These morgues are composed of physical newspaper archives and supplemental materials, which may include bound volumes of the newspapers, newspaper morgue materials, institutional records, and personal papers of people associated with the newspaper. Currently, no physical newspaper archive has fully digitized these supplemental materials.

• Newspaper Photograph Morgues

• Newspaper Photograph Morgues Resource List *compiled by the Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress
• << Previous: Special Newspaper Collections
• Next: Additional Resources Online >>
• Last Updated: Jun 18, 2024 1:51 PM
• URL: https://guides.loc.gov/united-states-newspapers

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Meta shutters tool used to fight disinformation, despite outcry

Meta is shutting down its CrowdTangle tool, despite researchers petitioning the company to keep it going through January 2025. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

Meta has been bombarded by academics, researchers, politicians and regulators about a tool called CrowdTangle, which most people probably haven’t heard of. It’s been used to investigate the spread of violence, political disinformation and false narratives on Facebook and Instagram.

On Wednesday, less than three months before the U.S. election, Meta is shutting CrowdTangle down.

“Against this backdrop, Meta decided to kill one of the best tools that civil society had to monitor and report on the hate speech and election interference that is almost certain to proliferate on its platforms,” said Brandi Geurkink, executive director of the Coalition for Independent Technology Research.

Untangling Disinformation

As the 2024 election nears, misinformation targeting latinos gains attention.

More than 50,000 people have signed letters and petitions urging Meta to halt its plans , or at least wait six months, according to the Mozilla Foundation.

Regulators, including the European Commission and a bipartisan group of U.S. senators and Congress members , say shuttering CrowdTangle now could be risky – given how useful it’s been to help researchers identify security threats and misinformation, especially around elections.

Meta’s new tool is more limited

CrowdTangle has given researchers and journalists a glimpse into how Facebook and Instagram’s algorithms work and how false information goes viral. But, over the past few years, Meta began to limit the tool and stop accepting new users.

A Meta spokeswoman declined to comment on CrowdTangle shutting down, but did point NPR to a blog post about a new tool called Meta Content Library. The company says the Content Library is more comprehensive and provides a better picture of what is happening on its platforms.

Facebook Disputes Claims It Fuels Political Polarization And Extremism

Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs told Axios that he hopes people will see the Content Library as "a very good-faith effort," that could "lead to a flurry of new and interesting research."

Meta requires researchers to apply to access the Content Library and they must be from “qualified academic or nonprofit institutions who are pursuing scientific or public interest research.” This access is far more limited than what Meta offered with CrowdTangle.

Hundreds of researchers, including Geurkink, say the Content Library “isn’t yet sufficient.” She said she welcomes improvements to the new tool, but “they hardly fill the gaping hole that is left by CrowdTangle’s shutdown.”

Researchers mourn the loss of CrowdTangle

CrowdTangle was created by Brandon Silverman and Matt Garmur in 2011 , who offered it to digital publishers like BuzzFeed, CNN and Vox. Facebook bought it in 2016 and let researchers and other media partners use it for free. It was the first time a major social network provided a tool to the public to monitor trends in real time.

Researchers and journalists quickly found that it was extremely useful in tracking viral false content, including Russian influence operations , accounts linked to the QAnon conspiracy theory and COVID misinformation .

Just 12 People Are Behind Most Vaccine Hoaxes On Social Media, Research Shows

Over the years, CrowdTangle has been used by hundreds of other academics, journalists and companies, who’ve covered topics that range from how the Islamic State has maintained social media accounts to best practices for comedians on Facebook .

The Coalition for Independent Technology Research published a website on Tuesday called “ RIP CrowdTangle ,” which will memorialize the work that was done with the tool. Other researchers and watchdogs are also mourning the loss of CrowdTangle.

“Shuttering this critical tool in another brazen blow to transparency across its platforms,” the Real Facebook Oversight Board, a coalition of academics and civil rights groups, said in a statement. “RIP Crowdtangle.”

• disinformation
• election misinformation

The top 10 journal articles from 2023 examined the effects of social media, CBT for substance use, and the psychology of gig work

APA’s 89 journals published more than 5,500 articles in 2023. Here are the top 10 most read

Vol. 55 No. 1 Print version: page 22

1. Looking through a filtered lens: Negative social comparison on social media and suicidal ideation among young adults.

Spitzer, E. G., et al.

Young adults who engage in comparisons to others on social media and thus feel bad about themselves are more likely to think about suicide, this research in Psychology of Popular Media (Vol. 12, No. 1) suggests. Researchers surveyed 456 college students about their frequency of social media use and used scales to assess participants’ tendency to engage in negative social comparison on Instagram and Facebook, suicidal ideation, and thwarted belongingness (i.e., feeling as if lacking connections or meaningful relationships with others). Results indicated that participants who engaged in negative social comparisons were more likely to report suicidal ideation than those who did not. Specifically, on Instagram, those who negatively compared themselves to others the most also showed the highest levels of association between thwarted belongingness and suicidal ideation. These findings suggest the need for limits on social media use and education around its mental health effects. DOI: 10.1037/ppm0000380

2. Self-compassion and women’s experience of social media content portraying body positivity and appearance ideals.

Rutter, H., et al.

The type of social media content women view can affect their self-compassion—how kind to themselves and accepting of their flaws they are—suggests this study in Psychology of Popular Media (advance online publication). In two experiments, a total of 247 women viewed content consistent with appearance ideals (fitspiration body photos; faces with makeup), appearance-neutral content (landscapes), or body-positive content (body-positive body photos, body-positive quotes, faces without makeup). In both experiments, women who viewed content consistent with appearance ideals reported a state of worse self-compassion and worse thoughts about themselves than those who viewed body-positive or appearance-neutral content. Women who already had daily low self-compassion or high disordered-eating symptoms were the most affected by viewing content consistent with appearance ideals. On the contrary, viewing body-positive content increased the state of self-compassion relative to viewing appearance-neutral content. DOI: 10.1037/ppm0000453

3. Reducing social media use improves appearance and weight esteem in youth with emotional distress.

Thai, H., et al.

Reducing smartphone social media use to 1 hour per day might improve body image and weight esteem in youth with emotional distress who are heavy social media users, this study in Psychology of Popular Media (advance online publication) suggests. The researchers randomly assigned 220 participants (ages 17 to 25 who used social media at least 2 hours per day) to either a 4-week intervention in which they limited their social media use to 1 hour per day or to a control condition with unrestricted access to social media. After the 4-week intervention, the group with restricted social media use felt better about their appearance and weight relative to before the intervention, whereas the other group showed no changes. Thus, reducing smartphone social media use appears to be a good method to improve how youths feel about their appearance and weight and could become a component in the prevention and treatment of body image-related disturbances. DOI: 10.1037/ppm0000460

4. Interventions to reduce the negative impact of online highly visual social networking site use on mental health outcomes: A scoping review.

Herriman, Z., et al.

In this review, published in Psychology of Popular Media (advance online publication), researchers identified 39 studies published between 2011 and 2022 that examined how interventions designed to reduce the negative impact of online highly visual social networking site (e.g., Facebook, Instagram) use impact mental health. Most of the studies were conducted on Western adults younger than age 35 and varied widely in terms of the variables assessed, making it difficult to highlight overall conclusions. Nevertheless, results indicate that interventions focused on reducing the exposure to highly visual social media platforms benefited well-being but may also reduce social connectedness. Interventions focused on social media literacy programs may reduce addiction and improve body image. Other interventions that adopted varied psychological approaches did not appear to lead to significant results. The researchers also highlighted the gaps in research that should be addressed to improve the efficacy of such interventions, including a need for interventions that are more guided by psychological theories and assessments of these interventions that are rigorous and include diverse populations. DOI: 10.1037/ppm0000455

5. On the outside looking in: Social media intensity, social connection, and user well-being: The moderating role of passive social media use.

Roberts, J. A., & David, M. E.

According to this study in the Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science (Vol. 55, No. 3) , heavy passive social media use may be linked with a weaker sense of social connection and well-being. In two survey-based studies with 226 participants in the United States, researchers found that passive engagement with social media (viewing social media but not regularly posting or interacting through the platform) was associated with less social connection, lower well-being, and higher stress. In a third, experimental study, with 160 participants, the researchers asked participants to use social media heavily (10 minutes) or lightly (5 minutes) and engage with it actively or passively. The results indicated that heavy social media use had a negative impact on feelings of social connection when used passively but a positive effect when used actively. DOI: 10.1037/cbs0000323

6. Social media usage is associated with lower knowledge about anxiety and indiscriminate use of anxiety coping strategies.

Wolenski, R., & Pettit, J. W.

Social media might not be the best source to learn about anxiety and how to reduce it, this study in Psychology of Popular Media (advance online publication) suggests. Young adults (N=250) responded to an online survey in which they reported their sources of information about anxiety, the strategies they use to cope with anxiety, and their anxiety symptoms and severity. The researchers also tested participants’ knowledge about anxiety. Participants rated the internet (e.g., Wikipedia, medical websites) as their most used information source, followed by friends and family, therapy, and social media. Participants with an anxiety diagnosis or severe symptoms sought information on social media more frequently than the other participants. Across all participants, those who sought information on social media more frequently showed a lower knowledge about anxiety and were more likely to report using both adaptive and maladaptive strategies to reduce anxiety. On the contrary, using the internet was associated with more knowledge about anxiety. These findings suggest the need to promote the dissemination of accurate information about anxiety on social media. DOI: 10.1037/ppm0000456

7. The psychological scaffolding of arithmetic

Grice, M., et al.

In this article in Psychological Review (advance online publication), the authors propose that arithmetic has a biological origin, rather than philosophical, logical, or cognitive basis. This assertion rests on four principles of perceptual organization—monotonicity, convexity, continuity, and isomorphism—that shape how humans and other animals experience the world. According to the authors, these principles exclude all possibilities except the existence of arithmetic. Monotonicity is the idea that things change in the same direction, so that approaching objects appear to expand, while retreating objects appear to shrink. Convexity deals with betweenness, such that the four corners of a soccer pitch define the playing field even without boundary lines connecting them. Continuity describes the smoothness with which objects appear to move in time and space. Isomorphism is the idea of analogy, allowing people to recognize that cats are more similar to dogs than rocks. The authors’ analysis suggests that arithmetic is not necessarily an immutable truth of the universe but rather follows as a natural consequence of our perceptual system. DOI: 10.1037/rev0000431

8. An evaluation of cognitive behavioral therapy for substance use disorders: A systematic review and application of the society of clinical psychology criteria for empirically supported treatments.

Boness C. L., et al.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an empirically supported treatment for substance use disorder (SUD), is the conclusion of this review in Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice (Vol. 30, No. 2) . The researchers reviewed five meta-analyses of the effect of CBT on SUD, but only one had sufficient quality for inclusion to evaluate the size of the effects of CBT. This meta-analysis found that CBT produced small to moderate effects on SUD when compared with minimal treatment (e.g., waitlist, brief psychoeducation) and nonspecific treatment (e.g., treatment as usual, drug counseling). These effects were smaller in magnitude when compared with other active treatments (e.g., motivational interviewing, contingency management). The effects of CBT on SUD tended to diminish over time (i.e., CBT was most effective at early follow-up of 1 to 6 months posttreatment compared with late follow-up of at least 8 months posttreatment). The researchers recommend CBT to be used as an evidence-based approach to SUD but highlight the need for more research to identify patient characteristics that might moderate response to CBT and the best deployment of CBT (e.g., as a standalone or an adjunct intervention). DOI: 10.1037/cps0000131

9. A network approach to understanding parenting: Linking coparenting, parenting styles, and parental involvement in rearing adolescents in different age groups.

Liu, S., et al.

Mothers’ and fathers’ behaviors that promote a sense of family integrity (i.e., coparenting integrity), warmth, and emotional involvement are central components of the parenting network in two-parent families, according to this study in Developmental Psychology (Vol. 59, No. 4) . Researchers used network analysis to explore different facets of maternal and paternal coparenting (e.g., integrity, conflict), parenting styles (e.g., rejection, warmth), and parental involvement (e.g., emotional support, discipline) in two-parent families in China with a total of 4,852 adolescents at different stages of adolescence. They found that maternal and paternal coparenting integrity, warm parenting style, and emotional involvement were key to the parenting network, as indicated by the central spot they occupied in the network analysis. They also found that the expected influence of these characteristics varied for adolescents in different developmental stages—maternal integrity, warmth, and emotional involvement were important throughout adolescence, but paternal integrity, warmth, and emotional involvement were particularly important in early adolescence. The results suggest that supportive parenting might be a prime target for enhancing parenting systems. DOI: 10.1037/dev0001470

10. Seeking connection, autonomy, and emotional feedback: A self-determination theory of self-regulation in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Champ, R.E., et al.

In this article in Psychological Review (Vol. 130, No. 3) , the authors propose a new framework on the basis of self-determination theory (SDT) for understanding attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and developing treatment approaches. The researchers suggest that using SDT, which proposes that humans have a natural tendency toward growth and self-actualization, supporting intrinsic motivation and self-organization, can offer a new positive understanding of ADHD and its symptoms. This approach counters the negative characterizations of ADHD; moves beyond symptom reduction and the focus on how ADHD presents motivation, engagement, and self-regulation issues; and instead focuses on potential positive aspects of ADHD and well-being. In addition, the framework highlights the need to help individuals with ADHD better understand how they function, tell the difference between biological and individual needs, and develop self-autonomy and self-regulation skills. According to this SDT approach, treatments that are autonomy supportive and increase self-determination could improve the functioning of individuals with ADHD. DOI: 10.1037/rev0000398

PsycArticles is available by subscription to institutions throughout the world. These are the articles published this year that were downloaded most often between January and September 2023.

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