Assessing Source Credibility
When you are working on an academic paper, your main aim is to show that you have read about your subject thoroughly and that what you have read has helped you form your opinions on the topic you are discussing.
It is a good idea to use a variety of sources and not rely too heavily on just one kind. You can use reliable online sources and journals.
Journals are collections of articles written by experts in a specific field. Using journal articles in your research can help you to gain insights into current practice and thinking relating to your subject area.
There are certain things you need to consider when thinking about what sources to use. It is NOT a good idea to assume that all the materials you read are going to be suitable materials to use. For example, there are many places on the internet where people can post or blog information that may just be their own personal opinion without having any evidence to prove their points. In academic writing, we constantly seek proof from a valid source.
You can test whether a resource is credible by applying the REVIEW criteria:
Relevance | Does the material directly relate to the topic under discussion? |
Expertise of Author | What is the author's background, and is she or he an authoritative source? |
Viewpoint of Author | Is the source of the information objective? |
Intended Audience | Who is this information written for? Is it being used in the right context? |
Evidence | Has the evidence presented been collected using a methodology that is sound? |
When Published | Is the information still current and is the information still important in the field? |
You may find credible sources in:
the university’s library electronic catalog and databases (e.g., Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, ERIC, JSTOR)
Google Scholar
the websites of governmental agencies and professional organizations (e.g., National Institute of Health (NIH)—www.nih.gov; National Association of Social Workers—www.socialworkers.org).
Pay attention to the website domain. Websites ending with .gov, .edu, and .org are more reliable than those ending with .com or .net.
Primary vs Secondary Sources
Before you begin to conduct any form of academic work, you need to consider whether it is appropriate to use primary sources or secondary sources.
Primary sources are usually the original or ‘raw’ research, i.e., the materials that researchers have personally gathered and analyzed in their work:
experiments conducted by scientists;
data from surveys, questionnaires, interviews, or observations;
original ideas are expressed in sources such as government reports, speeches, or fiction (useful for topics in English, humanities, and the social sciences).
Secondary sources are when someone writes about another person’s ideas (much like you do in your assignments).
If you use a secondary source, you may not know whether the second writer clearly understands or has accurately retold the ideas of someone else, so it's better to rely on the primary sources.
However, in undergraduate study, it is acceptable to use some types of secondary sources. Examples include:
textbooks in your discipline area;
articles or experiments in scientific journals that report the results of other researchers;
magazine or newspaper accounts of interviews, surveys, or questionnaires conducted by other researchers;
articles or reviews in books or journals about novels, speeches, or government documents.
Scholarly vs Non-Scholarly Sources
When studying a source academically, it is important to consider its intended readers. Broadly, sources can be divided into scholarly sources and non-scholarly or popular sources.
Scholarly sources are written by highly qualified researchers and undergo a thorough publication process. This process usually involves peer review and an extensive list of references at the end of the text. Scholarly sources often have a specific audience in mind, most likely other experts in the particular field of study. Examples of scholarly sources include books and academic journals written by scholars and experts.
Popular sources are written by and intended for a general audience. They are not peer-reviewed and do not usually include a reference list. Examples of popular sources range from books and magazines to websites and blogs.
If you’re unsure whether the source you’re reading is scholarly or popular, ask yourself these questions:
Who is the intended audience?
Does the author have credentials?
Is the text peer-reviewed?
Is there a reference list or Works Cited page?
If the source you’re examining fits the above criteria, it is most likely a scholarly source.
What Sources Should Be Avoided?
Avoid:
out-of-date materials (published over 10 years ago; 5 years for Nursing and Business Studies);
posts from social networks (i.e., Facebook);
research articles without citations;
Wikipedia (it is a collaborative and constantly developing encyclopedia - everyone can edit its articles).
Citing Rules
Using external sources without citing them is considered plagiarism. Writers must provide enough information so that readers can go to the sources and review them. This involves two things: citations and references.
Citations briefly identify the source of borrowed information, quotes, and figures in the text. The citation must be placed at the beginning, middle, or end of the borrowed information. It must be clear what information is borrowed and where it comes from, including page references whenever possible. The brief citation matches the first word(s) in an entry in the reference list; the author(s) or title serves as the main entry in the reference list.
What kind of information do I need to reference?
ANY words, ideas, or information taken from ANY source requires a reference. Reference when you are using words or ideas from:
books and journal articles
newspapers and magazines
pamphlets or brochures
films, documentaries, television programs, or advertisements
websites or electronic resources
letters, emails, online discussion forums
personal interviews.
There is NO need to reference when you are:
writing your own observations or experiment results, for example, a report on a field trip
writing about your own experiences, for example, a reflective journal
writing your thoughts, comments, or conclusions in an assignment
evaluating or offering your analysis
using 'common knowledge' (facts that can be found in numerous places and are likely to be known by a lot of people) or folklore
using generally accepted facts or information. This will vary in different disciplines of study.
In–Text Citations
Throughout the body of your paper, you must include a citation whenever you quote or paraphrase material from your research sources. The purpose of citations is twofold: to give credit to others for their ideas and to allow your reader to follow up and learn more about the topic if desired.
Your in-text citations provide basic information about your source; you will provide more detailed information for each source you cite in the text in the references section.
In-text citations must provide the author's name or authors and the year the source was published. (When a given source does not list an individual author, you may provide the source title or the name of the organization that published the material instead.) When directly quoting a source, you must include the page number where the quote appears in the work cited. This information may be included within the sentence or in a parenthetical reference at the end of the sentence.
Epstein (2010) points out that "junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive" (p. 137).
Addiction researchers caution that "junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive" (Epstein, 2010, p. 137).
The reference list contains the full descriptions of only sources cited in the paper. It enables the reader to find any source mentioned in the paper. The references are placed in alphabetical order at the end of the paper.
What to Include in the References Section
Generally, the information to include in your references section is as follows:
the name(s) of the author(s) or institution that wrote the source
the year of publication and, where applicable, the exact date of publication
the full title of the source
for books, the city of publication
for articles or essays, the name of the periodical or book in which the article or essay appears
for magazine and journal articles, the volume number, issue number, and pages where the article appears
for sources on the web, provide the URL where the source is located.
Referencing tools
Keeping track of all your references and consistently following your referencing style might seem daunting, but many tools can help you correctly manage and format your citations and references.
Look for cite options on Library Search, Google Scholar, and subject databases.
Use reference-building tools like Cite This for Me or ZoteroBib to generate citations and bibliographies.
Explore reference management software such as EndNote, Mendeley, or Zotero.
Helpful links:
MLA, Works Cited: A Quick Guide (a template of core elements)
CSE (Council of Science Editors)
For additional writing resources for styles listed here, visit the Purdue OWL Writing Lab.