Critical Reading Skills and the Research Paper

Evaluating Authors, Publishers, and Possible Research Sources

Writing an argumentative research paper involves using quotations from sources
you cite that serve to support and substantiate your thesis. Quotations from other authors
lend credibility to the thesis and viewpoints you advocate on a topic. Its important,
therefore, that the writers you cite are qualified to write on the subject matter. The writers
whose words you quote to advance your thesis should be objective in their point of view and
reliable in their presentation of the subject matter. You should consider, too, not only the
objectivity of the writers, but the objectivity of the writers publisher, as well. Lastly, to
effectively advance your argument, you need sources that are appropriate (relevant) to the
topic. Further, those sources need to be current enough (recentness) to be useful in
developing and supporting your ideas. To review, the six factors you should be critically
evaluating for each potential source considered as a support in your research paper are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

the authors qualifications

the authors objectivity
the authors reliability
the publishers objectivity
the relevancy of the source
how recent the source is

The Writers Qualifications

When critically evaluating an author, first consider the qualifications of the author.
What professional credentials does she have? What academic degrees or titles does she
hold that render her particularly qualified to write on the topic? What experience has the
writer had with the topic? Is she an authority in the field in which you are writing your
research paper? Has she written other articles or books on the topic? The names of
authorities in any particular field often recur in bibliographies / works cited of other source
materials on that topic. Check these other sources to see if the author whose work you are
considering is cited.
To find out information about the authors qualifications check the following
informational works:
-

Whos Who
Contemporary Authors
Biographical Index
Dictionary of American Scholars
Book Review Digest

Author and Publisher Objectivity

A second factor to consider in evaluating the merits of authors is objectivity. Most
writers express viewpoints; their writing is not entirely objective. In fact, with the exception
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of encyclopedia articles, and similar sources that are purely informational, finding authors
who maintain a completely neutral stance on a topic is near impossible and very unlikely.
However, should an author appear overly subjective, or overly biased in her opinions, you
may elect to abandon usage of her article or book as a potential source for your research
paper.
By consulting the sources mentioned previously, as well as reading the preface
and introduction of a potential source, you may be able to discern bias or evidence that
demonstrates possible affiliations (political, economic, religious, philosophical, other.) These
affiliations or biased viewpoints may render the authors treatment of the topic too subjective
for your use.
Consider too, the actual text itself. Look carefully at the writers tone and choice of
words. Does the writer seem to be using an emotional tone, rather than a tone that is
indicative of logic? Do the words the writer uses to describe, develop, and discuss the
subject matter have emotional connotations? Are words, phrases, and ideas expressed in a
manner that attempt to elicit reader reaction to the material based on something other than
rationale thought? Most convincing arguments rely primarily on an appeal to the readers
logic, rather than an overly emotional appeal. This does not, however, preclude the
possibility that the writer might use some emotional appeal in her argument. Keep in mind
though, that emotions deal with the subjective realm, whereas logic deals with the realm of
objectivity. Try to discern just how much subjectivity is present in the potential source. Will
the subjectivity of the potential source be damaging as a support to your argument? Will it
be effective in supporting and advancing your thesis, even if there is subjectivity present?
Perhaps you might wish to reconsider it as a source?
In further examining the issue of an authors objectivity and stance, try to discover
the answers to these questions: What explicit information does the author present about
other viewpoints or theories on the subject? Does the author agree or disagree with other
viewpoints or theories presented? A truly objective stance necessitates presentation of
more than just the writers point of view on the subject.
Finally, in considering objectivity, it is necessary to consider the publisher of the
potential research paper source. Does the publisher have any particular perspective you
are aware of? Is the publisher a reputable commercial or scholarly publisher? Or is the
publisher of the book the author herself, whats known as a vanity publisher?
In determining the objectivity of a periodical article, consult Magazines for Libraries.
This publication details which groups or organizations publish which periodicals. This could
prove extremely helpful in considering the objectivity of a source.

The Authors Reliability

A third important factor in critically evaluating an author is the factor of reliability.
One way to determine the reliability of a source is to consider if the writer uses any support
as evidence. Read over the potential source to decide if the writer makes general
statements without offering specific supporting details. Does the writer draw conclusions
that appear to be based on general statements? Does the writer make assumptions about
ideas, and accept them as true, expecting you the reader to accept these assumptions as
true, without explaining them? Be leery of using a source that offers little specific support.
If the source does offer statistical data as support for its assumptions and
generalizations, examine how reliable the authors use of this information is. Is the data
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interpreted accurately and favorably by the author? You may need to consult outside
sources (Perhaps your instructor?) to determine how appropriately statistical data has been
used.
A most crucial evaluative measure of the authors reliability is the documentation
the writer presents. The writing piece should offer the reader documentation for all quoted
matter, all statistical data, and all facts that are not common knowledge. Common
knowledge is that information which can be found in five or more printed sources. (For
example, Columbus discovered America in 1492.) The forms of documentation a writer
should provide include both in text citation or footnotes in the actual text, and a complete
works cited or bibliography at the end of the work. A source which provides this
documentation is one which offers the reader a high degree of reliability.

Relevance and Timeliness of a Source

The last two factors to be considered in critically evaluating a potential source are
the factors of how relevant the potential source is to your topic, and how recent the potential
source is.
To determine the relevancy of a source to your topic, begin by examining the title
(and subtitle) of the source. Next, check to see if there is a table of contents. Does the
table of contents list chapter titles (suggestive of major topics) that might seem useful to
you? Paging through the source, look to see if there are any graphic representations (maps,
charts, diagrams, etc.) within the body of the source or in the appendix of the book.
A very quick way to discern relevance is to check the index of a source. Scan the
index quickly, looking for key words to see if these topics are discussed in the source. Lastly,
dont forget to read through any bibliographic/ works cited information provided, which might
offer additional sources of information for your paper.
The easiest factor to evaluate in determining the worth of a potential source for use
in your research paper is the factor of how recent the source is. If your topic is very current,
you may need to use only those sources that are very recent.
Consider if the source you contemplate utilizing is contemporary enough for your
topic. Is your topic one that necessitates using very current materials, such as the topic of
cloning? Check the publication date to find out how up-to-date a potential source is. In
doing a preliminary search of topics, youll find that most libraries now list materials by topic
on the computer according to the date of publication, with the most recent materials listed
first. This is a very helpful feature in narrowing your search to recent sources.
In sum, those sources most helpful to you in writing a research paper will be those
that are most effective in enabling you to advance your thesis. Utilizing your critical reading
skills to determine the merits of a prospective source- the authors qualifications, objectivity,
reliability, the publishers objectivity, and the factors of relevancy and timeliness, are
essential to successfully preparing for and writing an effective research paper. Good luck!

www.oakton.edu/learn
Prepared by N. Justman: R5/06

EGL ZIP A: Critical Reading Skills and the Research Paper.doc