I've had a number of students ask for clarification about academic sources for the research paper. To make sure that we are all on the same page, I decided to produce some guidelines. So, here it goes...
The best academic source is a source which has passed through a process of what is called peer review. This means that prior to being approved for publishing it has been closely read by experts in the field who do not know the author of the research, and are not themselves known to the author. This is done to eliminate bias in the assessment of the research, since the reviewers cannot be biased against an author they dont know, and the author cannot do anything to personally influence the reviewers.
So this means that when you read academic sources you can have a level of trust in the data on which they are based. It doesn't mean that academic sources are always "right" since there can be multiple interpretations of the same data, but you can be sure that the data and the methods used to analyze it had to pass a rigorous test of its scientific merit and accuracy.
Thus, such works meet a certain standard of expectations, and you can cite them with confidence that they represent generally well-done research and analysis. Examples of academic sources include academic journals such as the Journal of Politics, the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, Political Behavior, and so on. A good way to be sure of an academic source in our areas of study is to see if it is indexed in the Social Science Index available at the library (and online). For our purposes we will consider books available at the library as academic sources as well, though strictly speaking some books (published usually be commercial publishers) really are not, while those published by academic presses (like the University of Iowa Press, or Cambridge University Press, etc.) are usually academic sources.
Academic Journals
So, academic journals include those which employ this kind of process. Journals such as the Journal of Politics, the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, and Political Behavior are examples of the many sources that you can turn to to ensure academic quality. You will also find lots of names that indicate interdisciplinary orientations, such as Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power or Ethnic and Racial Studies. The best way to make sure that you are accessing academic journals is to use JSTOR - an academic journal search engine that the Collin College Library provides to you. You may also use either the Quick Find or Articles by subject link in order to try various kinds of social science search engines. I also recommend sources such as Opposing View Points, CQ Researcher, Issues and Controversies, EBSCO Host and JStor. You will want to play around with different search engines to see how they work. If you want more guidance, see a reference librarian. That's what they are there for!
Academic Books
Making sure you have an academic book can be more difficult. Often a good sign is whether or not it comes from a university press (e.g. Harvard University Press, Wilfrid Laurier University Press, Minnesota University Press, etc.). If the name of the publisher doesn't give it away, then look for the book's referencing and bibliography. Are there citations in the text linking the arguments to concrete sources? Are there academic journals and books in the bibliography? More popular (i.e. nonacademic) titles will have less referencing, and may often tend to reference news sources rather than academic sources. But be careful, some academic texts will reference lots of news sources if an analysis of news coverage is a part of the research they are presenting. Most, but not all, books available at a college library are academic sources. A number of university based sites (like http://www.electionstudies.org/) contain usable materials. Again, ask a reference librarian if you have doubts.
Primary Sources
Primary Sources can also be good for academic papers, provided they are relevant and authentic. Primary indicates that it is original, non-interpreted data, writings, and the like. For example, James Madisons own writings about factions would be a primary source, but not a quote from a historian paraphrasing Madisons views on factions. Census bureau data demonstrating that Plano has the highest per capita income of any city in the United States would be a primary source, unlike a quote from a newspaper article commenting on Planos status as richest city in the United States. A fuller explanation of primary sources and how to identify them on the web can be found by clicking here.
Nonacademic Sources:
Are any web sources credible? The problem is you just don't know. There are times, especially when writing about current events, when journalistic sources are useful. You might also find them useful if you are trying to fill in a history of something. But they do not carry as much weight in academic writing as do academic sources.
Examples of reasonably reliable nonacademic sources include non-editorial articles from newspapers of record (such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, LA Times etc), and major newsmagazines of record (such as Time, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, The Economist etc.) and the old-school news networks (NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS). While such sources may be acceptable for your papers, you must use them in moderation and rely more fully on academic sources and primary sources to support your points.
Try to avoid national news published by smaller local newspapers or TV stations and their websites, as these tend to be more biased, to engage in second-hand reporting on national news and do not have the resources to engage in the kind of fact-checking that major newspapers of record do. Also avoid cable news outlets like FOX and MSNBC. These tend to be heavily biased and do a very poor job checking facts they often use information that is taken out of context, skewed or false.
Another good nonacademic source is information from a nonpartisan fact-checking organization. The two most reliable are Politifact.com and Factcheck.org.
Other Sources
Finally, I should highlight that you may also use some non-academic sources to gain knowledge for your project, even if you dont use it directly. These will largely be web-based sources, which will give you access to organizational profiles, media reports, reports from other organizations, etc. Journalistic sources: These are works which have NOT been reviewed by other academic researchers and which may or may not represent good research. Things like Wikipedia fall into this category too, and can be useful for addressing gaps in your own general knowledge about a topic. These sources can be used for getting started on a topic but do not count as an academic source nor are you able to use it as a source for your research throughout my class (see the syllabus for further guidelines). In short, some internet sources can be good ones, though not always. Be careful that the website is more than mere opinion.
Citing Sources
Remember, any time you borrow an idea from someone else, use concrete information from someone else, or quote someone else, you MUST CITE YOUR SOURCE with a proper parenthetical citation in the body of the text referring to a full citation in a Work Cited page or Bibliography (or a footnote if using Chicago style). I would like to highlight that you should not include items in your bibliography that you do not cite in your paper. In other words, to meet the requirement for inclusion of academic sources in your assignment, those sources MUST BE CITED in the essay. It is not sufficient to have academic sources in your bibliography.
A Final Note on the Love of Research
Learn to use the library resources early because the demands for proper academic research will only increase as you progress through your academic career. Learning this skill now will make things easier for you in your other classes, but will also allow to more effectively evaluate things you hear from the media, your peers, or other sources. Once you get the hang of it, you may even find that research can be fun(
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