How To Do Research: Evaluate Your Sources

It's always important to evaluate your sources.  Anyone can write anything they want (especially on the internet!), but that doesn't mean that they are an expert in their field, or even that their facts are correct.  

You should always consider who the author of the book or article is, why they are writing this piece, and what their biases might be.  You want to be basing your paper on facts and the research of experts.

A false or misleading article would not be a good souce to use in a research paper.  It would show that you did not properly research your topic, and it would make your paper weak.  

You should always evaluate your sources to make sure that they are credible and authoritative, so that your own paper will be based on strong sources.

(Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / Freedigitalphotos.net)

Learn about how to evaulate your sources in this short video.

(Video Courtesy of University of Rhode Island Libraries/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psaOdZFPTEM)

Here are some points to think about when you are trying to determine if your article is scholarly or popular:  

(Video courtesy of Purdue Libraries / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K--lAfBgPNo)