Evaluating information is an important part of the academic writing process. Your professor may have provided you with sources to use for your assignment. Even so, it's a good idea to think about the credibility and reliability of those sources. (For example, consider: Why might your professor be recommending each individual source? What makes them helpful sources for your assignment?)
When you need to find sources on your own, you should always select them carefully and be able to explain why you think they are reliable. The major elements to consider when you evaluate sources include currency, authority, credibility, purpose, objectivity, writing style, and relevance.
Research Skills & Tips:
There are different types of sources for various audiences and purposes. When reading a source to use in an assignment, it's helpful to consider what kind of information you'll learn from it, and how it might be useful in your paper.
Research Skills & Tips:
As you prepare to write your assignments, think about ways to apply your research to your topic and the argument you are making. Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing are commonly used writing strategies to help you integrate your sources in your own words without losing the original context.
Quotation: Quoting is putting the source ideas word for word in your paper and inserting quotation marks. Show your reader why the quote is important. Provide a context and explain why or how the quote supports the argument you want to make. Avoid using too many quotations in your writing.
Summary: A summary is a short overview of a larger text in your own words. Focus on preserving the most important ideas and leaving out the details. Do not insert quotation marks when summarizing.
Paraphrase: Paraphrasing is when you rewrite the author’s original ideas into your own words without losing the main points of the original text. It enables you to demonstrate your understanding and interpretation of the original idea about your topic. It gives your readers an understanding of the sources' specific ideas, but it is in your own words.
Key points to remember:
Research Skills & Tips:
To ensure the quality of your research, think critically about whether the sources you selected are credible, reliable, and relevant for your research goal.
Consider the evaluation tips on this page, and assess each article, book, website, or other source that you find.
