Evaluating a source
Finding and Evaluating Academic Sources
Ask five questions: Who wrote it and what is their expertise? Where was it published, and was it peer-reviewed? When — is it current enough for your field? What evidence does it use? Why was it written — to inform, persuade or sell?
Do not assume a journal is peer-reviewed; check the journal’s own policy. Do not judge a study from its abstract alone when the full text is available to you.
Example
A blog summarising a study is a pointer, not evidence. Find and cite the study itself.
Exercise
Pick one source in your library and record its answers to the five questions as a note.