Considering the Source

When I’m picking out a good surfboard, I like to know what I’m getting. However, if I don’t know anything about surfboards, I might want to ask someone else’s opinion first. I could ask someone randomly on the beach, but can I be certain that I can trust that opinion? Perhaps or perhaps not. It depends on the person I’m talking to. But if I happen to be close friends with a champion surfer with twenty years of experience, I’d be more likely to trust that friend.

As people, we tend to be careful and discriminating when deciding whose opinion to trust. This is only natural, since we want to be sure that we’re acting on good, reliable information. The same is true when considering academic sources. We don’t just want sources that agree with our point of view; we want to use sources that are trustworthy, reliable, and accurate.

In the academic world, this begins with peer reviewed or “scholarly” sources. In scholarly publications, accredited experts in a subject will peer review an article or book before it sees print. Through the process of peer review, the work will be checked for accuracy and validity. Often, these peer reviews are “blind”, meaning that the peer reviewers are unaware of the identity of the author. This process is designed to maintain the integrity of both the author’s work and the review process, by making the work itself the sole focus of the review. This peer review process helps to ensure that the article or book contains only credible and accurate research.

The most common peer reviewed or scholarly sources include academic books and scholarly journals. Academic books will usually be published out of university presses, and this is usually noted in the publisher’s name. These books will be both edited and peer reviewed, making them solid academic sources to use in an essay. Scholarly journals are peer reviewed works as well, and are also considered reliable sources. Academic journals may be found either in hard copy form in the library or digitally on EBSCO on the library’s web site.

While other sources may be usable for essays, depending on the source in question, be careful when citing them. Most sources, including newspapers and magazine articles, are considered to be “popular” sources. While they may be edited before publication, they aren’t subjected to peer review. This is not to say that popular sources can never be used in an essay, but avoid using popular sources when scholarly sources are required. Similarly, be careful when relying on online sources; while online journal articles are considered scholarly, web sites are generally much less reliable. Be aware of the kind of information you cite, and use careful judgment when deciding what information to include in a formal essay.

See you next time the breeze is cool, the sun is up, and the waves roll into view! ‘Til then, hang ten!