Chapter 5 --Evaluating Sources

Chapter 5 discusses how to evaluate sources for use in a research paper. In considering which sources to use in a research paper, one must be ever mindful of the purpose and position of the paper. Keeping your purpose and position in mind while you gather sources and information you will more precisely be able to gather the evidence that you will need to present in an organized manner that helps your audience to see your point of view. You will need to ensure that you have enough evidence to build a strong case, but not so much that your argument gets lost. In other words you want to make sure that what you use is meaningful. Sometimes more is just plain too much.  The evidence offered should also be fair and not obviously twisted to fit your point of view.

Choosing to cite authors who are credible is also of importance. Knowing that they are well informed in their fields of study adds credibility to your argument. As you consider an author, consider how their own biases may be effecting the argument in the source. For example, if you were to look a bit more closely at author you might find that he/she is firmly on a particular side of an issue and in fact the purpose of their paper is to fully support their side of an argument, not to inform you of an issue. This also applies to the publisher as so not want an author or a publisher that is heavily biased in one direction or another as this might weaken your argument. An example of this is if you were doing an environmental piece exploring alternative fuel and the article you read was written  by someone who worked for an oil company; their job depends on oil use  Additionally, it is important to consider the date of a particular piece was published as this might effect the impact of your argument. Lastly, consider the genre, or document type, that you will be using. A professional journal will cite published sources and research making it easier for readers to track down related  sources. Whereas blogs are less likely to have this and more likely to contain lots of opinions that may or not be substantiated. 

Being mindful that your paper is meant to present evidence to your reader as to why you have taken the position that you have, will help guide your choices of sources to include.