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Michigan State University

ISB 204 (Bierema): Applications of Biomedical Sciences

Questions for Evaluating Sources

Consider the following questions when evaluating a source:

Questions about the author(s):

  • Who is (are) the author(s)? What information can you find about them from looking at this piece? (e.g. their credentials, what do they do for a living, history of publishing, etc.?)

  • What do you think the author(s) were trying to accomplish by writing and publishing this article?  What was their possible purpose?

Questions about the article or piece of information:

  • What do you think motivated the author(s) to write this article? Why do you think they find the topic worth writing about? Is the original research question or purpose of the study indicated?

  • What are the claims or conclusions presented in the article? What do they lead you to believe? Are the claims supported in some way - if so, how? What is used for evidence?

  • How does the language used in the headlines or the article itself contribute to the overall tone of the information presented?

  • Is there anything in the article that lends authority or credibility to its content? If so, what?

Questions about the source's publication:

  • In what type of publication does the story appear? (Is it found on a news website, in a scientific journal, magazine, etc.)

    • For more help with identifying the publication type, see the "Popular, Scholarly, or Trade?" video in the left hand column. You can also scroll down to the comparison chart of publication types at the bottom of this page.

  • Do you think that this publication has an interest in providing a certain perspective on this study? Why or why not? How can you tell?

  • Can you think of anything that might be missing from this information source- a perspective, a consideration, or any other information?

Author Identity and Citation Justice

Citation Justice is the act of citing authors based on identify to uplift marginalized voices with the knowledge that citation is used as a form of power in a patriarchal society based on white supremacy.

Citation Justice is based on a growing body evidence across disciplines that women, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) are cited less frequently than their white male counterparts. It's important to examine citing as it relates to categorizations of race, power, and citation, and to cite people from marginalized identities both in your academic studies and in the broader community.

To learn more about citation justice and how to incorporate it into your work, visit the Citation for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Research Guide.

 

A photo of a library with a young black woman sitting reading a pile of books. The caption reads "cite black women"

Photo: https://www.citeblackwomencollective.org/

Is my source open access or restricted?

Ways to find out if your source is open access or restricted through a paywall or subscription fee:

1. Find the title of the journal or book in which your source is published.

  • Example: Here is a citation for an article from your course:

Schuetze, C. (2015). Narrative fortresses: crisis narratives and conflict in the conservation of Mount Gorongosa, Mozambique. Conservation and Society 13(2): 141–53. DOI: 10.4103/0972-4923.164193. <https://www.jstor.org/stable/26393193>

In this example, Conservation and Society is the title of the journal  in which the article is published. "Narrative fortresses: crisis narratives and conflict in the conservation of Mount Gorongosa, Mozambique" is the title of the article. Journals contain several articles per issue, just like a magazine or newspaper.

  • For more help on how to identify the different parts of a citation, scroll down and check out the "Anatomy of a Citation" video in the left hand column.

2. Google the title of the journal or book to find its home page or website.

  • Information should be available as to the subscription cost (if there's a cost, it's not open access), or whether the journal is freely available (open access).
  • Example: The web page for the journal "Conservation and Society" is here: https://www.conservationandsociety.org.in/aboutus.asp . In the first paragraph on the page, it says that the journal is open access.
  • You can also search for the title of the journal in the Directory of Open Access Journals: https://doaj.org/

3. Other methods:

  • If you're using Google or Google Scholar instead of the MSU library search to look for sources, you may only be able to see the abstract (summary) of the article and not the full text. This indicates that the article is behind a paywall or subscription only (not open access).
  • If you're searching with Google or Google Scholar, when looking at the article, see if you can find a message with wording like: "Access provided by Michigan State University." This indicates that MSU pays for access to the article and that it's not open access.
  • If you find a link to the article, try opening it with a different web browser in which you're not logged in to MSU. If you're able to access the whole article (full text), it's most likely open access. If you're asked to log in. pay, or subscribe, it's most likely not open access.

Primary Sources

What Are Primary Sources

Primary sources are the direct, uninterpreted records of the subject of your research project. As such, a primary source can be almost anything, depending on the subject and purpose of your research. Be creative in thinking of possible relevant primary sources of information on your topic.

Why Use Primary Sources?

  • A primary source is as close as you can get to the event, person, phenomenon, or other subject of your research.
  • A primary source on its own is likely only a snippet or snapshot of the full picture; thus it is often difficult to interpret on its own.
  • Reference sources and secondary analyses give you a framework for interpreting primary sources.
  • The real work of research is examining primary sources to test the interpretations, analyses, and views you find in reference and secondary sources.
  • Use primary sources to find evidence that challenges these interpretations, or evidence in favor of one scholar's interpretation over that of another; then posit an interpretation of your own, and look for more primary sources for evidence to confirm or refute your thesis.
  • When you present your conclusions, you will have produced another secondary source to aid others in their research.

Types of Primary Sources:

  • Lab reports: experiments, observations, etc.
  • Historical documents: official papers, maps, treaties, etc.
  • First –person accounts: diaries, memoirs, letters, interviews, speeches, etc.
  • Recordings: audio, video, photographic, etc.
  • Artifacts: manufactured items such as clothing, furniture, tools, buildings
  • Newspapers: some types of articles
  • Government publications: statistics, court reports, etc.
  • Internet resources: see, especially, digitized versions of historical documents
  • Manuscript collections: collected writings, notes, letters, and other unpublished works
  • Books: extensive and detailed discussions of a particular topic or set of topics, written by the scholars and researchers who came up with the ideas or discovered the findings