Source use or how to avoid plagiarism
"No sooner do we come into this world than bits of us start to drop off." -- Gustave Flaubert
Evaluating web sources
Begin by turning to page 555 in The Bedford Handbook for guidelines on Evaluating Web Sources.
General Advice
- Just because something is on the web doesn't mean that it is a good resource! Anyone can publish online.
- You will not impress your professor if every source you have on your works cited page is online. Unfortunately, this raises the suspicion in the mind of the professor that the student didn't bother to leave his or her dorm room.
- Try to use a variety of sources: if you are writing an essay on underage drinking, I recommend that you cite only one website on the subject, SADD, for instance. Such websites do not generally provide much depth.
- For a serious reseach essay, you will want to locate scholarly articles. These are articles in what are known as scholarly journals. See the links below for more information on how to differentiate journals from other websites. A few key features of a scholarly journal: each article will have footnotes and/or a works cited page; each journal should have a volume and issue number. Online newspapers and periodicals like Time are good sources, but even they should not be relied upon too much. Essentially what such popular sources do is translate complex information that is found in serious journals into everyday language. Inevitably, issues are simplified for ease of reading. In a research essay, you will want to use the sources that Time and the New York Times might rely on: journals, online or in text format.
- Keep in mind that internet sources tend by the very nature of the web to bar long systematic arguments: Who, after all, would willingly spend two hours reading through a website? Something in the very nature of the web mitigates against serious arguments.
- Typically, websites with lots of graphics will not engage your topic at the level needed; fewer graphics and much more text implies a source that is to be taken more seriously.
- Does the online source have an author? If it does not, the source may not be credible. What are the author's credentials? Is the author connected with a school?
- Does the site look polished? If the site looks shabby, it is probably not a serious source. Dead links are also a tell-tale sign of an unprofessional source.
- Everyone and every source is subjective. But there is subjective and then there is SUBJECTIVE. Be wary of extreme language. Any savvy debater knows that extreme language serves only to heighten emotion and stop serious thinking. Serious sources will have a serious and evenhanded tone. Ignore sources that do not have a professional tone.
Guidelines for Evaluating Information on the World Wide Web
- How to Critically Analyze Information Sources
- Thinking Critically About World Wide Web Resources
- Distinguishing Scholarly Journals from Other Periodicals
- Evaluating Internet Information
- Evaluating Internet Research Sources
- Evaluating Primary Source Web Sites
Citing Articles Retrieved from Infotrac or Lexis Nexis
(Your first reference tool on this issue should be page 620 in The Bedford Handbook)