WRW - Research and Reliability in Essays Lesson

Research and Reliability in Essays

Primary and Secondary sources were discussed in the previous lesson. Remember that the primary source is the main work of literature a writer focuses on and uses for an essay, and the secondary sources are the various texts a writer uses to support his or her claims. Secondary sources can be other books, articles, videos, etc.

However, a writer must be careful where he or she finds secondary sources. Using a Google search for information on a thesis statement might provide sources, but they might not be reliable, or trustworthy, sources. Reliable sources on the Internet might be difficult to find.

Students that have access to Gale and Galileo can use the various reference articles appearing on the subscription sites. However, aside from the articles on Gale and Galileo, only certain websites are consistently trustworthy. Educational and governmental websites are considered dependable because the reputation of the schools and governments are at stake, so they try to only publish trustworthy material. Google Scholar is a great, free source to search for articles—just make sure they are reliable. Find a link to Google Scholar in the sidebar.

Make sure to look at the very end of the link to determine the ending. The following are different types of websites that can be sources.

Practice

Now, practice with reliable sources. Using the websites below, determine if they are reliable or not reliable.

Try to find reliable sources that support a thesis statement—this will be part of the final assessment at the end of this module.

When writers use outside sources to support their writing, they must include source information in a Works Cited Page. The Works Cited page contains all of the source information that appears in a Works Cited entry. Each Works Cited entry must be set up in a certain format depending on the type of source. The next lessons will cover this idea in more detail.

RESOURCES IN THIS MODULE ARE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) OR CREATED BY GAVS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SOME IMAGES USED UNDER SUBSCRIPTION.