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Thinking about Reliable Sources

Starting a research project can be difficult. With the internet easily accessible, it is easy to search for information but difficult to determine which sources are reliable and which are not. You may think because a source is written by a professor or someone with credentials, it is reliable, but this is not always the case. You may think that because something is well written and well presented, it is accurate, but this is not necessarily the case. The accessibility of all kinds of information on the Internet, real and bogus, makes it imperative for you to exercise judgment about what you accept as true. Evaluating sources and making informed decisions about the credibility of sources is essential before you risk repeating false information in your own work. In order to do that, there are a few things you should keep in mind. Below are some suggestions for evaluating sources and then an activity to get you started on finding sources for your own research.

Things you MUST know about sources before you use them

The author

The publisher

The date of publication (or creation)

Where you found the source (online, in a book, magazine, journal, etc, not just in what database)

If it’s a web source, not published material, who created it and for what purpose.

Different sources and whether or not they are USUSALLY reliable

Some sources are more reliable than others. For instance, the internet may have LOTS of information that is very easy for you to access (you can do it at home in your pajamas if you want to), but that does not mean it is reliable. It is much more time consuming to find books on the subject you are researching—you have to go to the library, get dressed, and actually walk up and down stairs—but published books are usually much more reliable than the average information found on a Google search. The following talks about the pros and cons of finding research and data in different types of sources.

WIKIPEDIA

Wikipedia and similar sites (about.com and other informational sites) can help you get started but should not be considered reliable sources. You will want to do further research to confirm any information you find on these sites, and you should not plan to put them into your bibliography as a research-based source. In many cases, there is no way to know who provided the information and whether or not it has been confirmed. Start here but never end here.

BOOKS Books are generally reliable. If you can find them in the library at Temple they are there because they were published based on the author’s credentials, original research with data and primary sources, secondary research (all the citations in the books), and the reputation of the publisher. Not all publishers are trustworthy, but university presses are usually reliable as are major publishing houses. They only publish reliable authors, and they all have editors who check information to ensure its truthfulness.

In addition to finding books in the library, you can also locate books on Amazon.com or Google books. Often, you can read reviews of the books on those sites, and in many cases, actually look at the table of contents to see if the book contains relevant information. Sometimes you can even read chapters online, which can make actually taking the book out of the library unnecessary.

ARTICLES FROM JOURNALS Like books, academic journals are also usually reliable (these are different than magazines or other print publications which we’ll talk about below). Articles from academic journals are also based on the author’s credentials, they usually go through the process of peer review (other scholars review the material and decide whether it’s worthy of publication), They have research and citations just like books. Most academic journal articles CANNOT be found through free website searches. To find them, you will have to do a search through the library’s website or Google Scholar. The library pays a great deal of money each year to have access to academic journals online. You need to search through search engines such as JSTOR or Academic Search Premier to find Academic Journals. When doing your searches, you should narrow down the search specifically to academic journals to help in finding articles.

The problem with academic journal articles is that they tend to be narrowly focused and written for an audience of scholars and academics who are very knowledgeable about the subject. They can be difficult to read, full of technical vocabulary, with long, complex sentences and lots of references that probably don’t concern you. As a result, you should use these articles sparingly and use good judgment about what is actually useful to you.

MAGAZINE ARTICLES AND NEWSPAPERS Although you may find a great deal of useful information in magazine articles and newspapers (and many times we use these to learn about our subject), they are not as reliable as books or academic journal articles. News magazines and newspapers (such as Newsweek or The New York Times) are reviewed by editors but the editors might not necessarily KNOW about the subject. This means there could be errors in what the author writes that are not caught before publication. You may want to use these to read about your topic, but you want to refer to them sparingly (if at all) in your work. There are also a large number of popular magazines that are very accessible online or in print at newsstands, book stores, and even Target. Again, these magazines may have stories of specific people who are a part of your area of study or even specific aspects of the subject, but they are not generally based on research. Instead, they are written to sell or promote the magazine. Like other magazines or newspaper articles, these are great sources for starting or background information, but you should not consider them reliable unless you have additional information that confirms what you learn from the article or newspaper story.

WEBSITES Web sources are tricky. Some websites can be very reliable, while others are completely bogus. Here are some things to think about when examining websites:

Free web sources are open to anybody with an Internet connection. All the major search engines (Google, Ask.com, Yahoo!, AOL Search, MSN Search, etc.) are considered "free web" searches. They only look for materials that are available to anyone. Because just about anybody can post information on the free web, websites found through search engines aren't very reliable. There isn't really any way to make sure that these sources are (1) current, (2) scholarly (based on research or objective information), (3) peer-reviewed, or (4) unbiased.

Despite the possible unreliability of free web resources, there are some legitimate and useful research materials out there. If you must use free web resources, try to restrict yourself to sites with non-business domains: those that end in .org, .edu, or .gov. You can also try Google's "Scholar" tool, which will limit your search to educational sites. Even if you retrieve information from a .org, .edu, or .gov site, there is no guarantee that it's correct, up-to-date, or unbiased. If you are going to use a source from the free web, make sure that you evaluate the source's reliability before incorporating it into your argument. For example, look for background information on the individual or organization that created the site. Do they seem credible? If you can’t figure out who put it up, don’t trust it. And when was it last updated? Has it been untouched for five or ten years? Not a good sign.

Starting your Research (A web assignment)

For this assignment you will be working to complete some preliminary research steps. Start by answering the following questions and then using the answers to conduct your research. You should complete this by the end of class. Submit this document on Thursday, October 2nd and I will give you credit for the completion of the assignment.

What is your subject?

What are some of the questions you have about your subject ? Questions should address information that will help you get an overview of your subject, like how common or popular this trend is? How many people are involved? Is it common across the country or only in certain locations? Etc.

Questions:

List 5 words you think will help you find information about this trend and those involved in it. These words should include key words from the questions you are asking which will help narrow down the information you gather.

Start your search by going to Google. Type in your subject and/or key words related to your subect. Pick two of the web links on the first page to explore. And complete the following:

Site #1____________________________________________ URL______________________________________________ Who is the author of the site?______________________________________________ When was the site last updated?___________________________________________ What information about your subject is on the site?

What, if any, information found on the site is useful in your preliminary research?

Site #2____________________________________________ URL______________________________________________ Who is the author of the site?______________________________________________ When was the site last updated?___________________________________________ What information about your subject is on the site?

What, if any, information found on the site is useful in your preliminary research?

Now try a Google Scholar search using your subject and one or two of your key words. Do different sites come up?

Pick two and answer the questions again:

What, if any, information found on the site is useful in your preliminary research?

What, if any information found on the site is useful in your preliminary research?

Now, let’s move on to Temple’s Library Site. Go to http://library.temple.edu and click on Database Finder on the left. Then go down to Education or another field related to your topic. Once you’re there, click on Academic Search Premier. First, limit your search to Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals. Next, type in your subject.

How does this search differ from the ones you did in Google? How are article titles different? What kinds of journals appear? What do you learn from doing this search that you don’t from doing a web search?

Pick one article and answer the following questions: Who is the author(s)?

What is the article title?

What journal is the article from?

When was the article published (date)?

In looking at the abstract, what do you think this article will tell you about your subculture?

How is this article different from the ones you read during your Google Search?

Finally, go to the Library’s website and search for a book on your topic/trend and gather the following information: Who is the author(s)?

What is the title?

Who is the publisher?

What is the publication year?

In looking at the information, what do you think this book will tell you about your topic?