Chapter 3

Choosing the Right

Source Material

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Exercise 1
1. D
2. E
3. A
4. F
5. C
6. B
Exercise 2
Although the author writes for popu-
lar media, she does have academic
credentials. She holds a PhD from a
respected university and is a visiting
lecturer at another well-known uni-
versity. She is also a member of two
widely recognized scientific associa-
tions and an associate editor of an
academic journal.
Exercise 3
1. The .com suffix indicates this is a
commercial publication. Scientific
American is a good quality magazine.
However, as it is not written specifically
for an academic audience, you should
verify with your lecturers that it is
alright to use this source.

2. The .co.uk suffix indicates that this is a com-

mercial news site. It is widely
respected but not generally considered
suitable for academic citation.
Exercise 3 (cont.)
3. This is an online encyclopedia. The infor-
mation is not ‘peer-reviewed’,
so it is not considered suitable for academic
citation.

4. The .edu suffix indicates that this is an ed-

ucational site, so the material is
likely to be academically credible.

5. This is a commercial site which sells essays

online. Information from this
type of site should not be cited in an essay.
Exercise 4
No, it has not been written for an aca-
demic audience because it is too
informal in style. Although it mentions
the names of scientists, the style and
the use of contractions such as ‘don’t’
show the informality of the article. It is
possibly an article in a newspaper or
magazine.
Exercise 5
1. we
2. He uses their full names: Felix
Warneken and Michel Tomasello
3. the dash
4. We’ve, don’t
5. chimpanzee has been abbreviated
to chimp
6. something, science
7. fascinating; give … a hand
8. all
Exercise 6
1. Although the title looks potentially rele-
vant (e.g. ‘cures’), the date (2000)
indicates the item is too old.
2. The title doesn’t specifically mention the
2008 crisis but the word
‘aftermath’ suggests it may be relevant.
3. Probably not relevant as the focus is on
causes.
4. Appears to be relevant.
5. Probably not relevant as the focus is on
developing countries not on the
European Union.
Exercise 7
The abstract describes a study of
the impact of Facebook use on
undergraduate students, and
would therefore not be directly
relevant to young people be-
tween the ages of 12 and 16.
However, the study could be
useful for background informa-
tion and as a point of compari-
son.