Wikipedia is a better source than people give credit. Start there, then dig into the sources at the bottom of the Wikipedia page.
Always Google about the reputability of the website you're reading on. It will tell you whether or not you're wasting your time.
Research articles aren't hard to read, but the abstract and conclusion will tell you most of what you want to know, so you can easily save time by checking those.
A lot of libraries have online chat services where you can ask a reference librarian for help researching a topic. They can point out good sources and alternative search databases that might be more relevant than a general Google search depending on your query topic.
Librarians! They aren't just moving books around on carts. They actually study how to find information for several years. They are information finding professionals. (And other stuff like organizing, presenting, preserving etc of information.)
Even if you think a random librarian won't know about your topic, they are very likely able to help you find out about it.
Libraries are one of the few places where you can just walk in (or call, or chat, or email) and ask someone for help and get it free of charge no hassle. If you aren't near a library or you don't find your local library helpful, just reach out to some other one. They don't check if you live in the place. NYPL has very generous online materials and assistance. But you can try other cities.
Depending on your search engine there's all kinds of things you can do from excluding results that contain specific words, matching exact phrases, or searching for specific file types.
I'd recommend finding a cheat sheet for Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, or whatever else you use.
Thanks for the cheat sheet idea! That might help!!
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