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Research Skills Notes. Sources. A primary source is an original, firsthand account. Examples: Autobiography Eyewitness testimony Letters Speeches Interviews. Sources.
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Sources • A primary source is an original, firsthand account. • Examples: • Autobiography • Eyewitness testimony • Letters • Speeches • Interviews
Sources • A secondary source is a secondhand account from someone who was not directly involved in the events he or she has written about. • Examples: • Biography • Encyclopedias • Magazine articles • Textbooks
Evaluating Sources • To decide if a source is good to use in your paper, use the CRAP Test and ask the following questions:
Currency • When was it written or updated? • Is the information current enough for your topic?
Reliability • Are there references given for information on the site? • Is the content primarily fact or opinion? • Is the information balanced or biased?
Authority • Who wrote it? • Who is the publisher or sponsor? • Is there evidence that the author or organization is an expert on this subject?
Purpose/Point of View • What is the purpose of the site? (information, persuasion, advertisement, etc.) • What is the website domain extension? • .gov = government • .edu = education (universities/colleges/schools) • .org = organization (often non-profit) • .com & .net = commercial (sales, business networks) • Who is the intended audience?
Incorporating Ideas From Research • There are three ways to incorporate the ideas of other writers into your work, but all three require that you give credit to (cite) your source: • direct quotation – use quotation marks to indicate the exact words • paraphrase – restate the author’s ideas in your own words • summary – state the author’s main idea
Avoiding Plagiarism • When conducting research, you must be careful to give credit for any ideas that are not your own. • Presenting someone else’s ideas, research, or opinion as your own is plagiarism, the equivalent of academic stealing, or fraud. • When you choose to use someone else’s ideas or work to support your view, be sure to credit (cite) the material.
Crediting Sources • When you credit a source, you acknowledge where you found your information and give your readers the details necessary for locating the source themselves. • A bibliography provides a listing of all the resources you consulted during your research. • A works cited list includes the sources you have referenced in your paper.
Formatting Works Cited List • In high school, we used MLA formatting for papers and citations. • The Works Cited list is the last page of a research paper or slide of a powerpoint. • Each entry in the Works Cited list represents a separate source you used in your research. • Entries in a Works Cited list are listed in alphabetical order. • Try using http://citationmachine.net/ to format your citations.