Reference no: EM133560887
Assignment: Social Science
What is a scholarly or credible source?
A scholarly source is one that has been "peer-reviewed" and is usually published by an academic journal. Peer-reviewed means that an article has been reviewed and accepted for publication by a panel of experts in the field. Often, these scholarly articles report the results of social science research studies and will have some or all of the following sections: Abstract, Introduction, Literature Review, Methods and Measures, Data Analysis, Results, and Discussion. Scholarly articles contain many citations because the researchers are building upon the work of researchers who came before. Scientists use the work of other researchers to formulate and test new research hypotheses, and in so doing, they slowly and deliberately extend our base of knowledge. This methodical approach to research is the very foundation of science!
Credible sources are those that we can trust to provide original, unbiased, well-supported, and current information on a given topic. Scholarly sources are by their very nature credible. Other credible sources include works written by experts in the field, published documents from well-known research groups (e.g., Pew Research), and reports published by government agencies (e.g., NIH, CDC, Census Bureau, DoD) or other high-level institutions/associations (e.g., Mayo Clinic, APA, AMA).
Inappropriate and non-credible sources would include popular websites (e.g., about.com, ehow.com, Wikipedia), social media posts, blog posts, or media outlets (e.g., Fox, MSNBC, WSJ, NY Times, Forbes, etc.). These sources do not always accurately report their findings and are sometimes prone to bias. If a website or article fails to report the credentials of the author and does not provide citations for the information contained in the article, chances are it is not a scholarly source and therefore should not be used.
Articles that were published over a decade ago may also not be credible because there may be more current information available.