Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My project has to do with testing the efficiency of different types of cleaning products(laundry detergent, hand soap, dishwashing liquid) on fur that was soaked in motor oil. I researched about oil spills, different ways spills(and animals) are cleaned up, the components of motor oil ( and crude oil), and the recent bp oil spill in the gulf of mexico. Is there anything else i should include? All of these are online sources, but i wanted a few articles, mabye books. Any suggestions? Also, is Wikipedia a reliable source?, because thats where I got some of the research from. Thanks.

Hi,

I moved your topic to the Physical Sciences forum where more experts will see it -- Getting Ready for the Science Fair is more about communicating your results.

You might find this page about finding sources useful: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... tion.shtml

As for Wikipedia, personally I think it's a great resource for starting an investigation. However, it is true that anyone can edit Wikipedia pages and your teacher might not accept it as a source. If the information on a particular Wikipedia page is good, it will be cited with a superscript number linked to a citation at the bottom of the page. That means you can go look at that reference and verify the information from a 'primary' source. Many of the primary sources cited are likely to be the books and articles you're looking for.

Amanda