ARTH 240 - Treasures of Provence

Evaluate sources to ensure they're accurate, trustworthy, and appropriate for your research papers.

Courtesy of Wayne State University Library

Popular

• Audience: General
• Purpose: To entertain, sell products, or share news
• Format: Short and usually illustrated
• Sources: Quotes are usually attributed to the speaker, but few sources will be directly credited beyond this

Trade

• Audience: Professional
• Purpose: To keep professionals informed about news, trends, and practices in their field
• Format: Various article lengths with some industry jargon
• Sources: Quotes and sources are usually given attribution in-text, but are rarely cited separately

Scholarly

• Audience: Academic
• Purpose: To inform and advance scholarship
• Format: Longer format, often with field-specific language and limited illustrations
• Sources: Scholarly articles always cite their sources in footnotes and/or bibliographies

A scholarly source is an academic book or article written by an expert, reviewed by other experts, published by a scholarly publisher. The purpose of a scholarly source is to inform an audience and advance scholarship. To identify a scholarly source, look for:

1. Author - expert author in the field
2. Peer-review - reviewed by other experts before publication
3. Publisher - academic publisher like a university press or academic journal
4. Sources - attribution given to the sources referenced by the author

Can I use sources that don't meet these criteria?

It depends! Your professor will give you specific instructions about the types of sources you can and cannot use for an assignment. If you are allowed to use non-scholarly sources, it is still important to check that the source is trustworthy. Consider:

• Who is the author? Are they an expert?
• Who is the publisher? Is it an established, informative source I can trust?
• Does it cite sources? Can I trace the information back to it's original creator?
• How old is it? Has information changed since it was published? Could bias or past beliefs shape the conclusions drawn by the author?
• What is the purpose? Is it to inform and advance scholarship?