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PORT 1111 - Explorations of Brazilian Cultures - Oliveira-Montes: Evaluating Sources

Scholarly vs Popular?

An important step in evaluating a resource is determining if it is considered scholarly.  This distinction will need to be made for books, as well as articles. 

Some thoughts on Wikipedia

 Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, has made finding background information incredibly easy.  But if you are planning to use it as a key resource for your research beware:
  • Wikipedia and other encylopedias (whether in print or online) do not qualify as scholarly resources. 
  • Encyclopedias are a good place to start your research, but not are generally not considered acceptable sources to cite.
  • The collaborative and dynamic nature of Wikipedia presents a number of additional concerns regarding the quality and authority of the entries.