Quality of Sources

In any conversation, the speakers may have different levels of credibility. Some seem widely read, knowledgeable and able to defend their views confidently and persuasively. Others may exaggerate, oversimplify, or make leaps of logic that render their claims less believable. As you join such conversations, you invariably listen to assess the credibility of the various participants.

In a scholarly conversation, the analog of listening is research. Like speakers, individual sources may vary in their degree of credibility. The better you understand the perspectives and contexts reflected in a source, the richer your analysis of that material will be.

Primary sources, produced by the actors whom you want to study, usually reflect a range of interests and credibilities. Indeed, it is precisely their unique and time-dependent content that makes primary sources—novels, memoirs, advertisements, political speeches, census data, even earlier texts of history or science—so rich for analysis.

Secondary sources, produced by scholars seeking to analyze, arrange, and understand the worlds of primary sources, also exhibit varying degrees of credibility and interests. You might read a literary critic differently if you know he is reviewing a colleague's book, or a sociologist differently if she is employed by the tobacco industry, or an economist differently if her work is published by a Washington think tank rather than a university press.

The question, therefore, is not simply whether or not your sources are credible. Rather, you should ask to what extent they are credible and to whom. Being critically aware of the perspectives and interests behind your sources will help enhance the sophistication and credibility of your own analyses and conclusions.

Here is a list of tips developed by Dartmouth librarians that will help you gauge a source's credibility:

• Who wrote it? What are the author's background and credentials? Does the author have the expertise to write on this topic? Look for information on the author's academic affiliation or a brief biography in the front or back of a book, or with the abstract of a journal. You might also look up the author in the Library Catalog to see what else he or she has written. You can also Google the author to find his or her homepage or affiliation. The Web of Science Citation Databases, a scholarly database available through the Library, will allow you to see how many times an article has been cited in other articles—a measure of its influence.
• Where was it published? Is it in a scholarly journal? Look for a statement indicating that the journal is peer reviewed (that is, that the articles are independently evaluated by experts in the field). Many scholarly journals are published by university presses (such as Harvard University Press), professional societies (such as the American Medical Association), or scientific publishers (such as Elsevier).
• Who is the intended audience? Is it written for other scholars and researchers? Look at the language of the article to determine whom the author is writing for. Note whether the writer uses professional jargon or specialized terminology. Consider whether the writer assumes that readers have some background in the field in order to understand the article's basic terms and premises. Also consider the organization of the article. In some disciplines, professional articles will have a predictable structure, perhaps including an abstract, methodology, results, analysis, and conclusion.
• Is it timely? Is its currency appropriate for its field? The accuracy of a source may depend on the field. In the sciences, an article from just a year or two ago may be outdated, whereas in the humanities, there may be a wider window of timeliness. For some very recent topics, newspapers, magazines, and other popular periodicals may be your best resources.
• What are the article's sources? Does the author draw upon a context of research? Look at the footnotes and bibliography to see if the author cites other published research in the same field. Skim the article to see if it offers a "literature review" or summary of the research on the topic. Determine whether or not the author uses a range of sources—articles, books, reports, etc.

The world of information is like a house, full of rooms containing knowledge. Google will get you onto the front porch of that house, and maybe it will get you in through the front door. But it will allow you only a peek down the hall and up the stairs. The scholarly conversation—the network of research, discussion, and publication in which your professors participate—typically happens in scholarly journals that are available through the Dartmouth Library.

Many students begin their research using Wikipedia. Although Wikipedia may be useful in providing a general overview of a topic—helping you to get your bearings, be certain of facts, or define some basic terms—it is not scholarly. You will need to find academic sources for your research, since the scholarly conversation is not taking place on Wikipedia.

That said, you certainly will find scholarly information available on the free internet. Here is a list of tips developed by Dartmouth librarians that will help you assess online sources:

• Who wrote it? Look at the site's URL. Is the site a personal website, hosted by an internet service provider? Is it a .org, a nonprofit organization? Or is it a .edu, coming from an academic institution? Clearly a .edu site is more likely to be scholarly than a personal website. But use caution: .edu sites may contain postings by students and others who have no particular authority on the topic. Try to find out as much as you can about the writer of the source you are using.
• Why and for whom was it written? Ask yourself what the purpose of the site might be. Many websites will have a section that says "About ..." or "FAQ." These often tell you a good deal about the site's credibility.
• Is it current? Consider the timeliness of the site. Is the site being maintained and updated? Note that, unlike published print, the online medium allows updates at any time. Be sure to make note of the exact date on which you consulted the website and to include the access date in your citation.
• What sources does it use? Understand that the content of many websites is taken (if not plagiarized outright) from other sources. Check the website against several sources in order to determine whether or not the web writers have used their sources responsibly.
• Why are you using it? Finally, ask yourself whether you have a compelling reason to use a website in the first place. Is a website an appropriate resource for your topic? Should you look for the information somewhere else?

The Library has many resources to help you with your research. The Library Catalog contains information about everything owned or licensed by the Library—over two million books, over 20,000 print and online journals, and over 12,000 videos and other media items. If you are looking for articles in scholarly journals, the catalog will allow you to search many of the Library's databases simultaneously. After starting there, you might see which databases the catalog uses for your search, and perhaps explore more specific searches. For example, if you were interested in how memories of the Holocaust have been represented in graphic novels, you might start with a catalog search using keywords such as "Holocaust" and "graphic novels," and check the box that says, "Limit to articles from scholarly publications, including peer-review." Looking at the search results, you might see that the catalog recommends a database called "MLA International Bibliography."  You might then decide to do more searching there, uisng additional search terms. 

Of course, the best resources within the Library are librarians themselves. The librarians are here to help you navigate scholarly databases and the network of academic resources. Many of your professors will invite a librarian to class to discuss finding and evaluating resources for your papers. Be sure to take advantage of the help you are offered. When in doubt, do not hesitate to ask a librarian or, of course, your professor.