Instruction
Your paper should adopt the following structure:
1. A title page.
2. An introduction that introduces the topic itself and then why evaluating credibility is important.
3. A summary and evaluation of each source. Typically, an effective source analysis should be about a page in length or more per source. Be sure to properly introduce the article title and author of each source, and to touch on each aspect of your evaluation criteria. Some of these criteria will likely involve outside research – be sure to cite those sources as well.
4. A conclusion that discusses which criteria were most important and why,
5. A references page.
Your paper will be a minimum of 4-5 pages in length (not including reference page), 12 point font, Times New Roman, double spaced. You must utilize APA in-text citations for any quotations used, as well as include an APA references page and title page.
Audience
You should write your source evaluation for anyone who has ever said “Oh I saw this thing on Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr which said…” without bothering to check the source.
Evaluation
Your source evaluation counts for 10% of your final grade. You are strongly encouraged to use outside resources to refine your paper.
Make sure that you have:
Provided criteria that one uses to evaluate the reliability of a source.
Summarized each source objectively and described the type of source (online article, journal, infographic, etc)
Quotes from sources are used to validate the evaluation of the source, not to describe the subject of the article.
Evaluate the credibility of each source
Compared and contrasted sources to one another
Used proper APA in-text citations
Checked for grammar, spelling, and any other mechanical errors
REMEMBER TO CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING:
● Author: Indicate the author (if any) and their credentials.
o Do authors of the source give evidence of their credentials?
o Can you find any bias that the author may hold?
● Publisher: Indicate the publisher of the document.
o Is there evidence that the content of the source is affected by commercial sponsorship?
o Is the argument aimed at a specific and identifiable audience? How might that change your interpretation?
● Content and Context: Identify the thesis and the main arguments that the author makes.
o Does the author cite or reference other scholarly sources?
o What type of data or other information does the author use to support his/her argument? How does the author validate this information? How does the author present this information?
o When was the article published? Does this change its credibility?
o Is the content logically arranged?
o Where did you find this source? How does its context affect its content??
o Does the publication date or location in which the source was created hold any relevance?