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Yonkers High School IB: Evaluating Sources

Use this to start your Extended Essay Work

Evaluating Sources

Learn About Scholarly Articles

Scholarly articles are usually structured with specific components such as a literature review, methods section, and references. To learn more and see examples of how this looks, click the link below.

Types of Articles

When researching, you will encounter many different types of articles. Here are a few examples to be aware of.

  • Empirical Study: Article that is structured around original research findings. The purpose is to relay what the researcher has found.
  • Literature Review: Article that employs and/or analyzes previously published scholarship. Original concepts should be explored, but authors pull from other's research.
  • Professional Trade Journal: Publication intended for professionals in a specific field, trade, or industry. Not considered scholarly.

Librarian Tip: Peer Review is a process by which articles are reviewed by other scholars or experts in the field before being accepted for publication. Look out for "Peer Reviewed" filters in databases and the catalog to narrow your results to these types of articles.

What Is Peer Review?

Evaluating Websites of Organizations

Use these tips to evaluate the websites of organizations. Keep in mind that these are only a starting point and not guaranteed to be failsafe in every situation. 

Preconceived Notions

It is important to consistently check your own biases and your own preferences for reading one source over another. 

The Pew Research Center has done research on news audiences and has rated news sources by the ideological leanings of their followers. A chart of this information can be viewed at: Ideological Placement of Each Source’s Audience.

 

Example:

You've decided to write about how a vegan lifestyle is healthier than other diets. You are looking at news sources and find an article in Vegetarian Monthly that says that vegans have lower cholesterol than non-vegans. However, you don't include a source from Women's Running that indicates vegans usually have issues with B12 deficiency. You have chosen to only utilize sources that support your initial hypothesis. This is confirmation bias.