Peirce College Information Literacy Tutorial

Is this source appropriate for your research?

You and your instructor are the best people to determine if a source is appropriate for your research. Remember that all sources you use should contain well-supported arguments and valid research. Since it is easy to falsify information on the Web, you should look closely at the sources you select online.

Check how statistics and facts were collected and to whom they are attributed. Everything should be referenced with a source.
Determine whether the source is an opinion piece or a factual report.
Judge whether the source is popular or scholarly. Make sure you are using the appropriate type of source for your assignment.
Bibliographies highlight the sources that influenced the author's work. Use the bibliography at the end of your source to find other related works.
Consider all the information you have gathered about the author, publisher, and date and determine whether the source is appropriate for your information needs.

A listing of citations to books, periodical articles, or other items used in research on a particular subject. Bibliographies usually appear at the end of a journal article, book, or encyclopedia article. Bibliographies can also be a separate publication of resources available about a specific topic.