Sources

1. Sources The Good, the Bad, the Wiki

2. Questions • How do you distinguish a primary source from a secondary source? • How do you identify a scholarly source? • How do you determine the credibility of a source? • What sources should be included in an academic paper? What sources should NOT be included?

3. Primary Sources • Materials that are eyewitness accounts or as close to the original source as possible • Immediate, first-hand accounts of a topic • 2 types of primary sources: qualitative and quantitative

4. Qualitative Primary Sources • Spoken: speeches, interviews or conversations. May be captured in video/audio recordings or transcribed into text • Written: autobiographies, memoirs, personal journals, diaries, letters, emails, blogs, social media feeds • Images • Maps • Government Documents • Original research • Laws, Court Cases and Decisions, Treaties • Newspapers (reporter as witness or quoting witnesses)

5. Quantitative Primary Sources • Statistics and Data • Polls and Public Opinions

6. Secondary Sources • Interpretations and analyses of primary sources and other secondary sources • One step removed from primary sources, though they can quote/rely on primary sources • E.g., Autobiography = primary. Biography = secondary • Provide an objective point of view of the subject matter and are written after the event occurred or after the original research was conducted • Most of your sources will be secondary

7. Examples of Secondary Sources • Scholarly Journal Articles • Magazines • Reports • Encyclopedias and Dictionaries • Handbooks • Documentaries (even though visual images could be primary) • Newspapers (can be secondary depending on the content) • Most books about a topic

8. It’s Not About The Format • You cannot distinguish primary and secondary sources simply based on the format of the text • A book, for instance, is simply a format.  You can find primary and secondary sources published in book form • The same goes for Internet sites

9. Both have Pros and Cons • Primary resources: fresh, first-hand knowledge otherwise difficult to obtain • E.g., 100 year old letter has unique/specific details and descriptions • Con: limited by subjectivity. Author may be speaking from her point of view only and not considering other perspectives and issues that would give the topic more objectivity • Secondary sources: more comprehensive approach to the subject because they analyze several texts rather than being limited to the details of one event or experiment • Con: lack the vivid 'first-hand' account

10. Relative: Primary v. Secondary • Ex. 1: Scholarly journals are secondary; but if your topic is the history of human rights, then journals on human rights will be primary (because they serve as evidence of that history)   • Ex. 2: Magazines are secondary, but if you’re researching the view of judicial punishment in the 1920s, magazines from that time period are primary • Ex. 3: Most newspapers are secondary, but researching the media coverage of an event would treat newspapers as primary  • Ex. 4: A textbook is secondary since it describes and interprets the subject but makes no original contribution. But if your topic is the history of textbooks, your biology textbook could be used as a primary source (to see how textbooks have changed over time)

11. Scholarly Sources

12. What is a Scholarly Source? • A scholarly source, aka peer-reviewed source, is written by scholars or experts in the field • Ex: articles from academic journals, certain kinds of books, published dissertations, conference publications • Websites like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are credible, but not necessarily scholarly, although they do publish scholarly articles and reports. • NOTE: Most of these are secondary sources!!!

13. How to Spot a Scholarly Source • Author is a scholar or researcher in the field • Author cites her sources in footnotes or a bibliography • Journal is published/sponsored by a professional organization (e.g., American Medical Association) • Journal is published by an academic or research institution (e.g, Harvard University; National Institutes of Health) • Very little, if any, advertising • Title contains the words Journal, Quarterly, or Review

14. Peer-Reviewed Scholarly Sources • “Gold standard” of scholarly sources. Allow you to obtain unbiased, well-researched, trustworthy information • Publishing requires vetting by experts in the field to insure accuracy, ethical and appropriate research methods, and value • Typically found in databases like JSTOR, PsycINFO, ProQuest, and ScienceDirect (MTSU library). Google Scholar is another option, but you need to research the journal to make sure it’s peer-reviewed • Library catalogs also are helpful. Catalog can be limited, but sharing programs can help

15. What is NOT a Scholarly Source? • Newspapers, magazine articles, book reviews, advocacy or opinion sources, sources lacking references • Articles about scholarly topics written by journalists • Trade publications: (e.g., magazines or journals in a specific industry-- Attorney at Law Magazine, Psychology Today. Even though they’re specialized, they’re considered popular sources for the general public • Most websites are not scholarly sources, including encyclopedia pages, Healthline, and especially Wikipedia

16. Using Non-Scholarly Sources • Non-scholarly sources have value: background reading, brainstorming, general information hub to point you to scholarly sources. They can be factual and worthwhile • While non-scholarly sources have their place in certain kinds of papers and writing, they’re typically not appropriate for a ph.D level thesis or dissertation • HOWEVER, they are (with some exceptions) acceptable in high school writing (including senior thesis) • Note: no teacher at Central will ever permit you to use Wikipedia

17. What Primary and Secondary Sources Should YOU Use? • Journals • Books and E-books • Other Dissertations • Professional Publications (from a particular field such as engineering, education etc.) • Government documents, records and statistics • Interview transcripts • Manuscripts or original documents • Beyond that, consider diversifying your sources. Not all will be “scholarly”– for high school, that’s ok!

18. Evaluating the Reliability of Sources The credibility of your sources is the credibility of your work. Unreliable sources question the authority of your paper and your knowledge of the subject discussed. By relying on credible sources and databases from the beginning you can eliminate wasted time spent obtaining useless references and undergoing stressful fact-checking

19. All sources can– and should-- be questioned!Even primary sources. Even scholarly sources.

20. Credibility • Identifying reliable sources for your dissertation can be easy to accomplish by sticking with known and reputable organizations and relying on peer-reviewed journals that are found in many electronic search databases • Beyond that, however, you can establish credibility by questioning your source:

21. Identifying Credible Sources • Question 1: Who is the author? If you can’t tell who wrote a source you might want to reconsider using it. If the material is credible, the author will generally want to be associated with it: lack of an author can indicate the source is unreliable • Question 2: Does the author have a bibliography? What are her credentials? What experience does the author have with this subject? • Note: personal experience can make an author less objective. While this may not disqualify the source, it’s important to be informed about biases

22. Identifying Credible Sources • Question 3: What is credibility of the website/publishing source? How and where was this source published or made available to the public? • Question 4: When was this published? Avoid using sources if you cannot establish a date: information may be old/irrelevant • Try to use as many current (6 months-1 yr old) as possible • In certain circumstances, older sources may be acceptable. E.g., if you are comparing how attitudes towards travel have changed since 9/11, it would be useful to find information both prior to and following 9/11

23. Identifying Credible Sources • Question 5: What is the purpose of the writing? What is the author trying to achieve? • Question 6: What is the funding source? Is there a motivation to push a service or sell a product? • E.g.,you may not get an objective opinion on the effects of a weight loss product if the article is written by the company that sells the product

24. What about Internet Sources? • What is the website's URL? • Edu: accredited college or university • Org: sponsor may be a nonprofit organization • Gov: government organization • Com or Net: may indicate for profit • Is there an “About” page or a link to more information about the sponsoring organization? Organizations may have a mission statement that reveals a particular bias or stance • While none of these may necessarily disqualify or qualify a source, they can help you determine if the website has any biases on either side of an issue or topic