Deciding On Sources Worksheets

All About These 15 Worksheets

Equip your students with the skills to make informed decisions when selecting sources for their writing with this series of 15 worksheets, designed to help them navigate the process of choosing reliable and credible sources. Each worksheet provides students with guided exercises and practical strategies to enhance their understanding and application of source evaluation and selection.

This series caters to students across different grade levels and research levels, offering a range of worksheets that cover various aspects of deciding on sources. Through these worksheets, students will:

• Develop an awareness of the factors that determine the trustworthiness of sources;
• Learn strategies for distinguishing between credible and questionable sources by considering factors such as author expertise, publication credibility, peer review process, and bias;
• Consider the currency, scope, and depth of information provided by sources in relation to their specific research needs;
• Recognize the significance of giving credit to original authors and avoiding misrepresentation of others’ work;
• And learn strategies for incorporating evidence, quotations, and paraphrases from selected sources while maintaining their own voice and argument.

Overall, this series of worksheets serves as a valuable resource for teachers seeking to enhance their students’ research and writing skills. By engaging with these worksheets, students develop the abilities to critically evaluate sources, discern credibility, and make informed decisions that strengthen the quality and integrity of their research and writing.

How to Determine Which Source to Use When Writing

Once you have planned your research project, you need to start writing. However, for this, you need to ensure that the research and sources you use are accurate and credible. Understanding which source to use can take time, but as long as you are willing to read the sources properly, take proper notes, and think about how to utilize the information, you should be good to go.

Over the years, there has been a lot of online media. As a 21st-century student, it is highly possible that you have to go through numerous sources of information when researching any topic. However, it can be challenging to determine which source to use when writing. Here, we will tell you how to guide you and help you understand the kind of sources to use when writing.

Getting Started with Research

To choose a topic to write on and understand the research question, you must conduct some preliminary research to boost your thinking.

Once your initial research proposal has been made and you have included general ideas on how to proceed with your research, you need to identify a couple of possible sources you will use. This means that you need to come up with a method that is more focused and will help you search for primary as well as secondary sources.

Pay Close Attention to the Domain Name

When you click on an article you think you can use, look at the website’s domain name. This should include edu, gov, org, or com. The most credible sources are .edu and .gov websites, but you should keep an eye out as sometimes, these suffixes can be used to mislead readers.

You may also find credible information on nonprofit websites, but do proper research about the purpose and agenda of the organization so that you can ensure that the information you are using is not biased. Even though commercial websites like news organizations might be good sources to use, we recommend you do your due diligence to ensure that the information posted is reliable.

Check the Source

Look closely at the article you are reading- does it have a list of authors? Has the essay been cited from authoritative sources, or is the website writing down opinions without backing them up with facts? Have the credentials been mentioned at the end of the article?

Moreover, look at the date of publication as well. Sometimes, it does not matter if the source is old, but depending on the field of study, some information can get outdated quickly, making the data obsolete.

Back Up Information You Have Found

When you use any source within your writing, you must verify its legitimacy and authenticity. This means finding other sites that have used the same source as you.

If you find that the source you want to use has not been used by anyone else, we recommend doing some further research to ensure that it is reliable.

Certain Sources Can Only be Used to Jumpstart Research

Some sources like Wikipedia should not become the entire basis of your writing. You will find a considerable volume of data on Wikipedia but keep in mind that this information has been worked upon by several writers, which means that it has questionable reliability.
You might even find some incorrect information, so you should only use these websites to kickstart your research rather than cite them in your writing.