Lesson 2: Finding Reliable Sources

Unit II Lesson 2: Finding Reliable Sources

Introduction

When gathering research for your paper, you want to be sure that you are collecting only the most academically valid and most relevant research about your topic. Sometimes, what is acceptable in a public sphere is not acceptable in an academic sphere, so you want to be certain that when you put your time and energy into reading, annotating, and using a source, it is the best choice for the type of genre that you are writing in—the academic argumentative research paper.

In EH 1010 and in previous lessons, we have discussed the ways in which different spheres of knowledge have different expectations about what makes for a reliable source. However, now that we are firmly rooted in the academic sphere, we need to think about audience and have audience awareness as a result.

Choosing Argument Over Opinion

Sources that you collect should make arguments based upon supporting evidence. Opinions have their place, but not in argumentative writing, such as the kind you will do in academic writing situations.

Opinion: An opinion is a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty. People can have opinions about situations—social, political, economic, etc. —without having all the facts or without weighing all the facts because an opinion can be based upon someone’s personal view, attitude, or appraisal.

EXAMPLE 1: Peanut butter is the best food.

Obviously, in this example, we can see that there are faults in the statement. After all, food preferences are highly subjective. Even if you were able to find a food expert who was willing to state that peanut butter is the best food, it would still not be sufficient evidence upon which to base an argument.

EXAMPLE 2: NASA’s Space Shuttle program was a waste of taxpayer dollars.

In this second example, you can see that there is potential for an argument here. It is not always clear what is an opinion and what is an argument. The main thing to remember is that an opinion does not have backing, but an argument does. So if we were to take the statement above and add support to it, then it could become an argument because it would then have a correlation between the evidence being presented and the statement itself. 2

EXAMPLE 3 (revision): NASA’s Space Shuttle program was an unreasonable use of taxpayer dollars, with the final 22 flights averaging a cost of around $1.0 billion each (Pinchefsky, 2012).

As you can see here, the above example is an argument because it supplies evidence to support its claims.

Argument: An argument can be a statement, reason, or fact for or against a point. Typically, an argument is intended to convince or persuade an audience to adopt the writer’s argument.

In both of the examples below, the writer makes an assumption about what the evidence means and asserts a claim as a result.

EXAMPLE 1: Peanut butter is an excellent source of protein, with eight grams per two tablespoons.

In the example above, there is an assumption being made that eight grams is an “excellent” source of protein. This is the reasoning claim, reasoning that the writer will no doubt make clear in the following lines.

EXAMPLE 2: The justification for the shutdown of the Space Shuttle program is sound because the Space Shuttle was 30 years old, and it is time to focus on new technologies that take us on more long-term missions.

In this example, the assumption is that technology is old at 30 years, and therefore, should be shut down to make way for newer technologies.

These are examples of claims with support and the assumption that connects the two. As you are looking for arguments, you should be looking for the assumptions that connect the claim and the evidence.

Seeking Sources with Credibility

Credibility is built over time through the attainment of expertise; a credible person is trustworthy. People become experts through professional means either by the acquisition of academic degrees or through experience working with a certain thing. An expert can be someone who experiences something firsthand as well, but it should be noted that someone with on-the- job experience or someone with an academic degree is more credible than someone without these. You want to seek sources that are written by credible and expert authors only. Sources that are the most reliable have the following characteristics:

Expertise: The author(s) of the source is an expert in his or her academic field of knowledge. Many times, an expert will have the following characteristics:

 Hold a degree in the field, such as a doctorate, master’s degree, or other terminal degree 3

 Hold a position at a college or university, such as a professorship  Produce research that contributes to the field, such as experimentation, research, and analysis that is published

An expert might be someone who has extensive knowledge in a particular field, such as an engineer. Further, reputable news sources, established organizations, and government entities are considered reliable sources.

Source type: Sometimes the type of source will help you determine whether or not a source is reliable. We have often used the web-log or blog as an example of a disreputable source because these types of websites are often written and maintained by nonexperts with opinions. So what does a reliable source look like? The following list shows a few of the most reliable source types. No matter what, a writer must be cognizant of possible fakes, frauds, or impersonations:

 Reputable news sources (print and electronic)—These include AP News, The Economist, BBC, NPR, PBS, The Wall Street Journal, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, CNN, USA TODAY, Google News, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. These fourteen news sources are the most trusted for accurate reporting, so these are excellent places to find information.  Official websites for organizations—These websites usually end with the .org suffix. An example is the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org).  Institutional websites—Trustworthy institutions, including government entities, universities, etc., will host institutional websites. An example of such a website is the U.S. government’s official web portal (www.usa.gov).  Journal articles found through the CSU Online Library (CSU OL)—These articles will mostly be found through the databases available in the CSU OL, including Academic OneFile, Academic Search Complete, General OneFile, GreenFILE, Opposing Viewpoints in Context, and more. When you find an article in one of these databases, you know it is reliable.  Books and e-books—For the most part, books and e-books that are available in libraries (on-the-ground or online) are reliable. Please see the CSU Online Library’s ebrary for more on e-books.  Book chapters and edited collections—Sometimes you will want to use only a book chapter from a book found in a library. That is perfectly acceptable. The same is the case with edited collections, which are collections of essays written by experts around a particular subject area. There are usually one or two main editors who facilitate the collection, and contributors submit their independent or cowritten articles to the collection. Collections can be a good way to find multiple perspectives on a particular topic.

Publishing: Where, when, and how something is published is also important when determining reliability. Sources should be printed on reputable presses and published recently (within the last 10 years). To a lesser extent, how something is published could be a factor in determining reliability. 4

 Where: The publisher should be considered. If the publisher is an institution, organization, government entity, or reputable publisher, then chances are that the source is reliable. If an article is published in a journal, then it is likely a reliable source because the journal is usually published through an academic press. As for books and e-books, if the press is a university press, then it is very likely reliable. Just because a book is not published on a university press does not mean that it is unreliable, but the list of publishers that are considered legitimate and less legitimate is far more nuanced for our purposes here.  When: The question of when something is published depends upon the discipline and also the genre in which you are writing. For disciplines in the humanities, a source can still be relevant even though it is 40 years old. For the social and behavioral and hard sciences, date has everything to do with relevance. Generally, to be safe, a source should be no more than 10 years old.  How: If a source’s publishing is questionable, then seek a different source that provides the same material. There should be no spelling, grammar, or style errors in a source. If you cannot tell who wrote the article or what the supporting agent is, then you should consider finding another source. The publishing world has become much friendlier to electronic publishing because such publishing is the future. However, if the source is printed electronically only, then you should ask yourself if the document meets the other requirements for reliability.

References: The sources you collect should absolutely have references throughout the document and at the end. Further, the references should be to sources that also have references. In this way, you will know that all writers involved relied upon research in order to make their claims.

Review: All of the previously described attributes will be present in sources that have been peer- reviewed and carefully edited. For many academics, to have an item peer-reviewed is to hold it to the highest standards of academic scrutiny.

Check for Understanding (Answer Key is Below Review)

1. Opinion/Argument: The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, is the single greatest piece of war literature ever written. 2. Opinion/Argument: Joan Didion’s memoir The Year of Magical Thinking is about more than just the loss of her husband; it is a book about coping with loss of all kinds. 3. True/False: The following is neither an opinion nor an argument: Svetlana Alexievich was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in literature. 4. True/False: A person can be an expert in a field even if he or she does not have an advanced degree in the subject. 5. True/False: A firefighter could never be an expert without a degree. 6. True/False: A person’s self-published e-book posted on his or her blog is probably a reliable source. 7. True/False: A news article does not have a references list, so it is not reliable.

Review 5

1. When gathering research for your paper, you want to be sure that you are collecting only the most academically valid and most relevant to your topic. 2. Sources that you collect should make arguments based upon supporting evidence. 3. An opinion is a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty, and opinions should be avoided as supportive source material. 4. An argument can be a statement, reason, or fact for or against a point. Typically, an argument is intended to convince or persuade an audience to adopt the writer’s argument. 5. Credibility is built over time through the attainment of expertise; a credible person is trustworthy. 6. Having expertise means that the author(s) of the source is an expert in his or her academic field of knowledge. 7. The following source types are considered reliable: a. Reputable news sources (print and electronic) b. Official websites for organizations c. Institutional websites d. Journal articles found through the CSU Online Library (CSU OL) e. Books and e-books f. Book chapters and edited collections 8. Sources should be printed on reputable presses and published recently (within the last 10 years). 9. The sources you gather should both (a) contain references or acknowledge sources and (b) cite sources that also contain references. 10. All of the described attributes above will be present in sources that have been peer- reviewed and carefully edited.

Answer Key

1. Opinion: There are many factors that make something “great,” but to state that something is the greatest is a matter of subjectivity and, therefore, opinion. 2. Argument: The thesis is that the book is about “coping with loss of all kinds.” The expectation is that the writer will go on to provide evidence to support this statement. 3. True: This statement is a fact; therefore, it is informational only. 4. True: An expert could be someone who has extensive knowledge in a particular field due to his or her many years working in that field. 5. False: If a firefighter has extensive knowledge of fires and several years of experience, then his or her knowledge is considered expertise. 6. False: Self-published materials do not go through a peer review process, so while they may be informative, you do not want to base your assertions and argument on something that has not been peer reviewed. 7. False: If the article cites sources in-text through acknowledgment (e.g., “Smith went on to state…”), then it can still be reliable. Public sources are not held to the same standard of citation as academic sources. Reference 6

Pinchefsky, C. (2012). 5 horrifying facts you didn’t know about the Space Shuttle. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolpinchefsky/2012/04/18/5-horrifying- facts-you-didnt-know-about-the-space-shuttle/