Severe Mistakes in doing Genealogical Research
There might be severe mistakes unbeknownst to you as far as working on your family tree. The following is a list of just a few. Check and correct, if necessary, any such errors.
First, see that you place a source for all your research. It can save you from redoing the same search a couple years later and you will have a listing to back up where the information, photos, documents, newspaper articles, etc you do have came from.
Second, NEVER accept someone else’s data and information unless you verify it yourself with several reliable sources (primary and secondary sources). Checking it against another person’s tree is not using reliable sources. I have seen so many major errors in other peoples’ family trees, you wander ‘what were they thinking?’ Just because it is on the Internet does not make it correct. 
Keep a good reliable email address just for genealogy research and correspondence. Make is an address you will keep. It might be 5 to 8 years between the times someone sees a genealogy database or message you have and when they email you – possibly with some strong primary resource. You wouldn’t want to miss that information.
Hold onto all family related data, names, dates, documents, records, photos, etc you locate. Make it in digital format for easier storage, but do keep everything and label it. It will surprise you how down the road, a certain name or location will surface and it can now provide the full explanation to a certain relative.
Go back over specific family lines at least once a year and especially if it has been several years. There can be new databases available now that you didn’t have a few years ago. Also you have learned more about a family line and you need to re-analyze earlier information with any recent data collected. Re-examine old documents, letters and photos for anything you overlooked years before.
Be wise and smart on your research – it pays off in the long run.
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