Reliable and Unreliable Sources for Research
Reliable vs. Unreliable Sources
■
Reliable Sources = TRUSTWORTHY SOURCES
–
Written by experts in that particular field
■
Unreliable Sources = SOURCES THAT CAN BE ALTERED
BY ANYONE
–
sources, such as Wikipedia, are not reliable
because the authors may not have a thorough
knowledge or full understanding of a topic
Example of Reliable Sources
•
Book
•
Newspapers and magazines
•
Peer reviewed journals
•
Peer reviewed articles
•
PhD or MBA dissertations and research
•
Public library
•
Scholarly articles
How will
I
KNOW
if its
RELIABLE
??
■
To determine reliability of online sites and organizations,
look at the URL’s ending:
–
If the site ends in .edu, it is most likely a reliable educational institution.
–
If the site ends in .gov, it is most likely a reliable government website.
These sites usually provide good sources for statistics and objective
reports.
–
If the site ends in .org, it is usually a reliable non-profit organization.
■
News sources
:
–
Every television and print news source has a website
–
Beware! Sometimes their focus is to
entertain rather than inform
**
WITH ANY SOURCE YOU MUST CHECK THE AUTHOR TO DETERMINE
RELIABILITY
Examples of Unreliable Sources
•
Wikipedia: although this is a good
starting point
for finding initial ideas about a
topic, some of their information and attached resources may not be reliable
•
Blogs, tweets
•
Personal websites
•
Forums
•
Sites created by organizations that may have political or biased agendas
•
Sites that provide biased information
•
Self-published sources
•
Opinionated articles such as editorials
•
Online sources with an URL that ends in html, which is the basic building blocks
of web pages
•
Some online sources with an URL that end in
.com
are unreliable:
•
Sites of companies that conduct their business over the internet. Some of these sites are
unreliable because they have
hidden agendas
.
•
THINK: are they trying to sell me something? A product? An idea?
Works Cited
■
You need FIVE citations in MLA format on your works cited page.
■
Your entries need to be in Alphabetical order based off of the first
word in the entry
■
If the entry goes past the first line, you need to make a hanging
indention. This is done by pressing “enter” and then “tab”
Hudson, Elizabeth. “Hanging Out with the Bats.”
Texas
Highways
August 1994;
Pages 14-19.
How to format entries…
Book, one author
:
■
Last name, First name.
Title of Book
. Place of Publication: Publishing
Company, year of publication.
■
WORKS CITED ENTRY EXAMPLE
–
Weinburg, Steven.
Dreams of a Final Theory
. New York: Pantheon, 1992.
■
PARENTHTICAL CITATION EXAMPLE:
One may see how “all logical arguments can be defeated by the simple refusal to
reason logically”
(Weinburg 25).
–
Parenthetical citations are simply you stating where you found this
information in the actual paper. Anything that did not come from your brain
will have a parenthetical citation.
How to format entries…
General Webpage
:
■
Title of Page.
Date page was published. Organization or Owner of Page. Date
you accessed the page. <entire URL>
■
WORKS CITED ENTRY EXAMPLE:
Space Telescope Science Institute Home Page
. 20 November, 1997. NASA. 28 October, 2004.
<http://www.stici.edu>.
–
NOTE: If you are struggling to identify a page title, look at the internet tab at the top of your
page.
■
PARENTHETICAL CITATION EXAMPLE:
Through ample research, one will discover how the goal of the Office of Public Outreach is to “[meet]
the needs of the general public and science communicators by connecting to three user communities:
news media, online audiences, and venues offering in-person interactions” (
Space Telescope
Science
).
–
This should be the first word for few words in the Works Cited Entry, which will usually be the
title of the page.
How to format entries…
An article from an online database:
■
Last name, first name. “Article Title.”
Original Journal from Which it Came
.
Edition or Volume number. (Year of publication): Page numbers.
Title of
Database
. Web. Access Date.
■
WORKS CITED ENTRY EXAMPLE:
Langhamer, Claire. “Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-Century England.”
Historical
Journal
. 50.1 (2007): 173-96.
ProQuest
. Web. 27 May, 2009.
■
PARENTHETICAL CITATION EXAMPLE:
(Langhamer 25)—If author not given, give the title of the article in quotation marks inside the
parentheses.
WHAT YOU NEED IN LAB
■
Google Scholar
■
Destiny
■
NC Wise Owl
PAY ATTENTION TO THE WEBSITES MRS. STRANGE SHOWS YOU
Scholarly, peer-reviewed articles and books
Work Cited
Austin Peay State University.
“Reliable and Unreliable
Sources”.
Academic Support Center Writing Lab
.
Oct
29 2012. Web.
Recognize reliable and unreliable sources for research. Reliable sources, such as books and peer-reviewed journals, are authored by experts in the field. Unreliable sources like Wikipedia and blogs can be altered by anyone. Learn how to evaluate the credibility of online sites based on their URLs and authorship. Avoid unreliable sources like opinionated articles and self-published content.
Download Presentation
Please find below an Image/Link to download the presentation.
The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author.If you encounter any issues during the download, it is possible that the publisher has removed the file from their server.
You are allowed to download the files provided on this website for personal or commercial use, subject to the condition that they are used lawfully. All files are the property of their respective owners.
The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author.
E N D
Presentation Transcript
Reliable vs. Unreliable Sources Reliable Sources = TRUSTWORTHY SOURCES Reliable Sources = TRUSTWORTHY SOURCES Written by experts in that particular field Unreliable Sources = SOURCES THAT CAN BE ALTERED Unreliable Sources = SOURCES THAT CAN BE ALTERED BY ANYONE BY ANYONE sources, such as Wikipedia, are not reliable because the authors may not have a thorough knowledge or full understanding of a topic
Example of Reliable Sources Book Newspapers and magazines Peer reviewed journals Peer reviewed journals Peer reviewed articles Peer reviewed articles PhD or MBA dissertations and research Public library Scholarly articles Scholarly articles
How will I KNOW KNOW if its RELIABLE RELIABLE?? To determine reliability of online sites and organizations, look at the URL s ending: If the site ends in .edu, it is most likely a reliable educational institution. If the site ends in .gov, it is most likely a reliable government website. These sites usually provide good sources for statistics and objective reports. If the site ends in .org, it is usually a reliable non-profit organization. News sources: : Every television and print news source has a website Beware! Sometimes their focus is to entertain rather than inform entertain rather than inform** ** WITH ANY SOURCE YOU MUST CHECK THE AUTHOR TO DETERMINE WITH ANY SOURCE YOU MUST CHECK THE AUTHOR TO DETERMINE RELIABILITY RELIABILITY
Examples of Unreliable Sources Wikipedia: although this is a good starting point for finding initial ideas about a topic, some of their information and attached resources may not be reliable Blogs, tweets Personal websites Forums Sites created by organizations that may have political or biased agendas Sites that provide biased information Self-published sources Opinionated articles such as editorials Online sources with an URL that ends in html, which is the basic building blocks of web pages Some online sources with an URL that end in .com Sites of companies that conduct their business over the internet. Some of these sites are unreliable because they have hidden agendas. THINK: are they trying to sell me something? A product? An idea? .com are unreliable:
Works Cited You need FIVE citations in MLA format on your works cited page. Your entries need to be in Alphabetical order based off of the first Your entries need to be in Alphabetical order based off of the first word in the entry word in the entry If the entry goes past the first line, you need to make a hanging If the entry goes past the first line, you need to make a hanging indention. This is done by pressing enter and then tab indention. This is done by pressing enter and then tab Hudson, Elizabeth. Hanging Out with the Bats. Texas Highways August 1994; Pages 14-19.
How to format entries Book, one author Book, one author: Last name, First name. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publishing Company, year of publication. WORKS CITED ENTRY EXAMPLE Weinburg, Steven. Dreams of a Final Theory. New York: Pantheon, 1992. PARENTHTICAL CITATION EXAMPLE: One may see how all logical arguments can be defeated by the simple refusal to reason logically ( (Weinburg Weinburg 25). 25). Parenthetical citations are simply you stating where you found this information in the actual paper. Anything that did not come from your brain will have a parenthetical citation.
How to format entries General Webpage General Webpage: Title of Page. Date page was published. Organization or Owner of Page. Date you accessed the page. <entire URL> WORKS CITED ENTRY EXAMPLE: Space Telescope Science Institute Home Page. 20 November, 1997. NASA. 28 October, 2004. <http://www.stici.edu>. NOTE: If you are struggling to identify a page title, look at the internet tab at the top of your page. PARENTHETICAL CITATION EXAMPLE: Through ample research, one will discover how the goal of the Office of Public Outreach is to [meet] the needs of the general public and science communicators by connecting to three user communities: news media, online audiences, and venues offering in-person interactions (Space Telescope Science). This should be the first word for few words in the Works Cited Entry, which will usually be the title of the page.
How to format entries An article from an online database: An article from an online database: Last name, first name. Article Title. Original Journal from Which it Came. Edition or Volume number. (Year of publication): Page numbers. Title of Database. Web. Access Date. WORKS CITED ENTRY EXAMPLE: Langhamer, Claire. Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-Century England. Historical Journal. 50.1 (2007): 173-96. ProQuest. Web. 27 May, 2009. PARENTHETICAL CITATION EXAMPLE: (Langhamer 25) If author not given, give the title of the article in quotation marks inside the parentheses.
WHAT YOU NEED IN LAB Google Scholar Destiny NC Wise Owl PAY ATTENTION TO THE WEBSITES MRS. STRANGE SHOWS YOU Scholarly, peer-reviewed articles and books
Work Cited Austin Peay State University. Reliable and Unreliable Sources . Academic Support Center Writing Lab. Oct 29 2012. Web.
