Consider the following when choosing resources for your paper:
- Authorship and Authority (Gibaldi 41-45)
- Author Credential information:
- Educational degrees such as PhD, MD, etc.
- Affiliations such as schools, research facilities or other organizations
- Work experience.
- Note: In some cases, an organization or corporation may be responsible for a work.
- Publisher and publication information:
- Scholarly, refereed or peer reviewed journal articles undergo a higher level of screening by experts in the field prior to being published.
- Publishers may be associated with educational institutions such as universities or national professional organizations such as American Psychological Association.
- Accuracy and Verifiability (Gibaldi 41-45)
- Bias or point of view
- Look at the author affiliations or publication affiliation for potential sources of bias.
- Note the wording of the work including the tone.
- Note how thoroughly the author explores differing opinions.
- Verifiability
- Determine if the author has citations backing up any claims within a work.
- If there is a question concerning the information, see if other sources are claiming the same thing.
- Currency (Gibaldi 41-45)
- The date of publication may effect how accurate it is. Certain types of information such as scientific writing have a shorter shelf-life than others. An older article on current trends in heart surgery would not be a credible source. However, an older English literature essay may or may not be a good source.
- The date of publication may have an affect on point of view or bias. For example, an article on feminism from the 1950s may present a biased account.
Reference:
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed.
New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 2003. Print.
See also
