How to Evaluate the Credibility of a Source
Understand academic standards.Scholarly writers are held to a higher standard of rigor than casual writers and even some branches of journalism., Consider the author’s scholarly reputation.Within each field, there are a handful of scholarly thinkers...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Understand academic standards.Scholarly writers are held to a higher standard of rigor than casual writers and even some branches of journalism.
As such, you must hold your sources to a higher standard as well.
Citing information from an unreliable source makes academic audiences wary of your entire argument because it is based on information held to a lower level of integrity.
Academics have a long memory; too many transgressions into the land of unreliable sources, and you’ll be a marked writer with a marred reputation. , For example in literary theory, Jacques Lacan, Jacques Derrida, and Michel Foucalt are three towering figures whose work provides the bedrock of the discipline; citing them would go a long way toward establishing your credibility as a scholar within the field.
This is not to say that less-established scholars’ work is not credible.
Sometimes, citing a scholar who goes against the tide of established thinking provides you with ammunition for a compelling devil’s advocate argument.
In academia, these types of arguments are sometimes more valued than those based on the writings of famous thinkers because they suggest you have the ability to question accepted thinking and push the boundaries of the discipline.
Be aware of any credibility scandals that may have befallen even well-established academics.
For example, critical theorist Slavoj Žižek’s reputation and credibility has been significantly damaged after a 2014 accusation of plagiarism., They have the highest possible level of credibility, and you can always feel safe using them.
There are two elements to unpack for this designation: “scholarly” and “peer-reviewed.” Scholarly sources are written by experts in a particular discipline for other experts in their field.
They are written to inform, not entertain, and assume a high level of previous knowledge because they are written specifically to people who have a vested professional interest in technical information relevant to their specialization.
Peer-reviewed articles are not only written by experts, but are also read and evaluated by a panel of peers — other experts in the field.
This panel of experts determines whether or not the sources used in the article were credible, whether the methodologies used in studies are scientifically sound, and render a professional opinion as to whether or not an article meets the academic standard of integrity.
Only then will an article be published in a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal.
Almost all peer-reviewed journals require a subscription fee.
However, if you have an active .edu email account from a university where you either attend or work, you can make use of the library’s subscriptions to databases to access these journals.
Using the library website’s database search engine, use the advanced search to restrict your search results to “peer-reviewed” sources. , If you are using any online source other than a scholarly university database, you should exercise caution because anyone can publish their thoughts on the internet, regardless of the merit of those thoughts.
As a general rule, all .gov websites are credible because they have the weight of governmental institutions behind them.
Websites that end in .com and .org are sometimes credible, but sometimes not.
In these cases, you need to look at the institution or organization that is producing the information.
A private individual does not have the credibility needed for academic work; however, a large, established organization like the American Medical Association or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do.
There are large, famous organizations that are still known to have biases.
For example, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals will provide only that information which supports their cause, whereas the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Services might provide the same family of information without agenda bias.
Websites that end in .edu also fall into the category of “sometimes credible.” Individual faculty often provide course websites that include information pertinent to classes they teach.
These sites may include lecture materials and interpretation of sources.
While faculty at a university are reputable, this information does not go through the “peer-review” process discussed earlier.
As such, you should be more cautious with it.
If at all possible, look for that same information from a peer-reviewed source, rather than a professor’s personal .edu source. , If an author is unable to convince a publisher to house their ideas, it’s likely because their ideas carry little weight.
Never cite an author who self-published their work. , If an author has had their manuscript accepted for publication, that means that someone has deemed their ideas worthy of discussion.
However, there is a significant and important difference between books published for scholarly and non-scholarly purposes.
Scholarly books are written with the sole purpose of informing; they offer new ideas, criticize old ones, and present new data or theories relevant to an audience of academic scholars.
Non-scholarly books might deal with scholarly subject matter — sociology, for example, or politics.
However, they are written to entertain a lay audience, not to inform a scholarly audience.
Scholarly books are often published by university presses (Amherst College Press) and professional associations (American Historical Association), whereas non-scholarly articles are published by commercial publishers (Houghton Mifflin).Scholarly books will provide an extensive list of references to bolster their academic credibility, whereas non-scholarly books often make claims without any credible referential support. , Textbooks are wonderful teaching aids; they condense technical information into easily understandable language for students who are learning that material for the first time.
However, they include only that information that is accepted by consensus within a field.
As such, you should not rely on such obvious (to academics in the field) information to create the main thrust of your academic argument.
Use information from a textbook only for the background information necessary to build the foundation for your more innovative argument. , Scholarship is a continually evolving body of knowledge, and information that is once groundbreaking may be proven incorrect or outdated within a few years or even months.
Always check the date of publication for a source before making a decision about whether or not it is reliable information for your project.
For example, as recently as the 1960s, most scholarly linguists believed African American Vernacular English to be a deficient, broken form of standard American English reflective of African Americans’ lack of cognitive abilities.
By the 1980s and 90s, the majority of linguists had come to embrace African American Vernacular English as a distinct dialectical variation of American English with its own patterned grammatical structures and diction.The entire line of thinking reversed itself within a couple decades. , So far, we have discussed many types of sources that are unacceptable for scholarly writing: many websites, non scholarly books, etc.
However, there are ways to use those types of sources to your benefit without citing them.
Students are always told, “Never use Wikipedia.” That’s true — you should never cite Wikipedia for multiple reasons: it’s written anonymously, so you can’t know the credibility of the author, and it’s continually updated, so it’s not a stable source.
However, if you find information that you find useful, that information may be cited in a more reputable footnote.
If the cited source meets the other standards for credibility, read that source and cite it.
Use Wikipedia as a starting point that points you toward better sources.
Do the same for any other websites that don’t meet the high standard for academic integrity.
If you cannot find that information corroborated in scholarly sources, that’s a red flag that the information is not trustworthy, and you should not include it in your argument. , If you are belong to a college community in some way — as student, faculty, staff, or alumnus — check with the English department to see if you have access to a university writing studio.
The staff at the writing studio will be able to provide you with a professional opinion on the credibility of a given source.
If you are a student, show the source to your professor and ask for their advice in evaluating it.
Always seek your second opinion ahead of the deadline for your project.
If one or more of your sources proves problematic, you will find yourself deleting sections of your paper and scrambling for new sources at the last second. -
Step 2: Consider the author’s scholarly reputation.Within each field
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Step 3: there are a handful of scholarly thinkers considered the giants of the discipline.
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Step 4: Focus on scholarly
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Step 5: peer-reviewed sources.These sources should be your first avenue of research when undertaking an academic project.
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Step 6: Use discretion with all websites.
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Step 7: Avoid self-published material at all costs.
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Step 8: Distinguish between scholarly and non-scholarly books.
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Step 9: Avoid using textbooks except for background information.
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Step 10: Consider the timeliness of the source.
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Step 11: Use unacceptable sources and methods in an acceptable way.
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Step 12: Seek a second opinion.
Detailed Guide
As such, you must hold your sources to a higher standard as well.
Citing information from an unreliable source makes academic audiences wary of your entire argument because it is based on information held to a lower level of integrity.
Academics have a long memory; too many transgressions into the land of unreliable sources, and you’ll be a marked writer with a marred reputation. , For example in literary theory, Jacques Lacan, Jacques Derrida, and Michel Foucalt are three towering figures whose work provides the bedrock of the discipline; citing them would go a long way toward establishing your credibility as a scholar within the field.
This is not to say that less-established scholars’ work is not credible.
Sometimes, citing a scholar who goes against the tide of established thinking provides you with ammunition for a compelling devil’s advocate argument.
In academia, these types of arguments are sometimes more valued than those based on the writings of famous thinkers because they suggest you have the ability to question accepted thinking and push the boundaries of the discipline.
Be aware of any credibility scandals that may have befallen even well-established academics.
For example, critical theorist Slavoj Žižek’s reputation and credibility has been significantly damaged after a 2014 accusation of plagiarism., They have the highest possible level of credibility, and you can always feel safe using them.
There are two elements to unpack for this designation: “scholarly” and “peer-reviewed.” Scholarly sources are written by experts in a particular discipline for other experts in their field.
They are written to inform, not entertain, and assume a high level of previous knowledge because they are written specifically to people who have a vested professional interest in technical information relevant to their specialization.
Peer-reviewed articles are not only written by experts, but are also read and evaluated by a panel of peers — other experts in the field.
This panel of experts determines whether or not the sources used in the article were credible, whether the methodologies used in studies are scientifically sound, and render a professional opinion as to whether or not an article meets the academic standard of integrity.
Only then will an article be published in a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal.
Almost all peer-reviewed journals require a subscription fee.
However, if you have an active .edu email account from a university where you either attend or work, you can make use of the library’s subscriptions to databases to access these journals.
Using the library website’s database search engine, use the advanced search to restrict your search results to “peer-reviewed” sources. , If you are using any online source other than a scholarly university database, you should exercise caution because anyone can publish their thoughts on the internet, regardless of the merit of those thoughts.
As a general rule, all .gov websites are credible because they have the weight of governmental institutions behind them.
Websites that end in .com and .org are sometimes credible, but sometimes not.
In these cases, you need to look at the institution or organization that is producing the information.
A private individual does not have the credibility needed for academic work; however, a large, established organization like the American Medical Association or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do.
There are large, famous organizations that are still known to have biases.
For example, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals will provide only that information which supports their cause, whereas the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Services might provide the same family of information without agenda bias.
Websites that end in .edu also fall into the category of “sometimes credible.” Individual faculty often provide course websites that include information pertinent to classes they teach.
These sites may include lecture materials and interpretation of sources.
While faculty at a university are reputable, this information does not go through the “peer-review” process discussed earlier.
As such, you should be more cautious with it.
If at all possible, look for that same information from a peer-reviewed source, rather than a professor’s personal .edu source. , If an author is unable to convince a publisher to house their ideas, it’s likely because their ideas carry little weight.
Never cite an author who self-published their work. , If an author has had their manuscript accepted for publication, that means that someone has deemed their ideas worthy of discussion.
However, there is a significant and important difference between books published for scholarly and non-scholarly purposes.
Scholarly books are written with the sole purpose of informing; they offer new ideas, criticize old ones, and present new data or theories relevant to an audience of academic scholars.
Non-scholarly books might deal with scholarly subject matter — sociology, for example, or politics.
However, they are written to entertain a lay audience, not to inform a scholarly audience.
Scholarly books are often published by university presses (Amherst College Press) and professional associations (American Historical Association), whereas non-scholarly articles are published by commercial publishers (Houghton Mifflin).Scholarly books will provide an extensive list of references to bolster their academic credibility, whereas non-scholarly books often make claims without any credible referential support. , Textbooks are wonderful teaching aids; they condense technical information into easily understandable language for students who are learning that material for the first time.
However, they include only that information that is accepted by consensus within a field.
As such, you should not rely on such obvious (to academics in the field) information to create the main thrust of your academic argument.
Use information from a textbook only for the background information necessary to build the foundation for your more innovative argument. , Scholarship is a continually evolving body of knowledge, and information that is once groundbreaking may be proven incorrect or outdated within a few years or even months.
Always check the date of publication for a source before making a decision about whether or not it is reliable information for your project.
For example, as recently as the 1960s, most scholarly linguists believed African American Vernacular English to be a deficient, broken form of standard American English reflective of African Americans’ lack of cognitive abilities.
By the 1980s and 90s, the majority of linguists had come to embrace African American Vernacular English as a distinct dialectical variation of American English with its own patterned grammatical structures and diction.The entire line of thinking reversed itself within a couple decades. , So far, we have discussed many types of sources that are unacceptable for scholarly writing: many websites, non scholarly books, etc.
However, there are ways to use those types of sources to your benefit without citing them.
Students are always told, “Never use Wikipedia.” That’s true — you should never cite Wikipedia for multiple reasons: it’s written anonymously, so you can’t know the credibility of the author, and it’s continually updated, so it’s not a stable source.
However, if you find information that you find useful, that information may be cited in a more reputable footnote.
If the cited source meets the other standards for credibility, read that source and cite it.
Use Wikipedia as a starting point that points you toward better sources.
Do the same for any other websites that don’t meet the high standard for academic integrity.
If you cannot find that information corroborated in scholarly sources, that’s a red flag that the information is not trustworthy, and you should not include it in your argument. , If you are belong to a college community in some way — as student, faculty, staff, or alumnus — check with the English department to see if you have access to a university writing studio.
The staff at the writing studio will be able to provide you with a professional opinion on the credibility of a given source.
If you are a student, show the source to your professor and ask for their advice in evaluating it.
Always seek your second opinion ahead of the deadline for your project.
If one or more of your sources proves problematic, you will find yourself deleting sections of your paper and scrambling for new sources at the last second.
About the Author
Maria Gray
Dedicated to helping readers learn new skills in home improvement and beyond.
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