Essay Writing

If you don’t get your information from a “good” source, it will discredit you as an author, it may make your paper a big lie, and it will make your instructor think you weren’t willing to take the time to find the information. Really, if you are going to spend hours and hours writing a paper, don’t you want it to be accurate? Even if the information you find is true, it looks better from a reliable source. There are basically two types of sources, Internet and Print.

Internet Sources

There are some places you simply should not look for information online. While the Internet is a very easy way to find information, it is not all guaranteed to be true.

Wikipedia - I love wikipedia as much as anyone, and probably more. However, since anyone can edit or put info on this site, it isn’t reliable. While I would bet most of the info there is true, instructors do not like this site. However, it is a great tool because at the bottom of the entry, it should have a list of links that you can use to find reliable information on your topic. It is also a good place to get a basic understanding of your topic. I suggest using wikipedia to start out, but I wouldn’t use it as a source for information.

Personal Web Pages – Would you ask someone on the street for facts about your topic? No. So don’t take just anyone’s word on the Internet. Geocities, Angelfire, Facebook or Myspace will not have information that you can use in an academic paper, even if the Pope’s physician wrote it. (Unless you are writing a paper about Geocities, Angelfire, Facebook, or Myspace. I really wouldn’t recommend this!)

Someone’s Blog – And for the same reasons as above. The only exception to this is if you are doing some type of research that involves reactions from people. For example, if you were writing about the effects of 9/11, and woman’s blog she said she felt afraid for her children, that would be OK. (You could also find information like this in a newspaper, and it would technically be more reliable.) However, most research situations do not use info like this, and you probably can find much more impressive sources.

Print Sources

Print sources usually have better information (because it is more time consuming and costly to print information), but not always. Outdated Books – Books are generally a good place to find information. However, if you are researching a topic that is expanding rapidly (or has since the book was published) such as biochemistry or technology, be sure that the information is current and up to date. A book about immune system diseases would be different if it were published 15 years ago, before AIDS was a problem.

Tabloids/Magazines- Try to use info found in popular magazines sparingly. For the most part, this information has been watered down to cater to a non-academic audience. While the info may be true, the source itself is not reliable, so it looks bad. If the information you find here is true, you should be able to find it somewhere else. And don’t cite the National Enquirer for any reason, ever.

Source : http://melissamaxwellwf.googlepages.com/sourcesyoushouldn%27tuse