So often in classes on campus it is stressed that sources should be peer-reviewed articles from "academic" journals. That's great, fine, and dandy, but too often "non-academic" sources are left unused when they are exactly what is needed for the given project.
The best, most legitimate argument for the use of "non-academic" sources comes in the form of statistics. The fact is that many sources on the internet are simply acquiring their statistics from academic sources and putting them into easy to digest tables in charts, something rarely found in peer-reviewed journals.
As often as internet sites simply re-package academic research, there is always the chance that the statistics you are looking at aren't factual at all. There are a couple steps to ensure the legitimacy of online statistics. First of all, always look for a reference when you are viewing stats. Don't simply accept that the author of the article or table is telling the truth. Find out where they got their statistics from. If their source checks out, you should be able to use their chart as a comparative tool in your paper.
As I've stated above, "non-academic" sources can be used as a valuable tool, but as with any source you may be hoping to use, you have to make sure it's a legitimate source that has factual backing. This is why it is far safer to use peer-reviewed journal articles for sources. They're virtually guaranteed to be factual, but with some background checking of "non-academic" sources, internet sources can be a useful addition to any project.
No comments:
Post a Comment