This is a question we regularly get from students. The internet and university libraries are bursting with sources. This sometimes makes it difficult to determine if a source is reliable or not. How can you determine for yourself whether you are dealing with a reliable source? This explanation and checklist are going to help you.
For your thesis, you always use a variety of sources. With these, you substantiate your choice of research design and the findings you share in the theoretical framework section. This shows that you have read up on and built upon existing research.
When you choose sources for your thesis, they must be reliable. Therefore, you must check each source for reliability before using it.
Get the right source citation in 3 seconds
It is not only important to use sources for your thesis. It is also crucial that you use the correct format of source citation. Want to make sure you don't make mistakes with this? Try our APA generator or our source generator for the Legal Authors' Guide. Using these tools, you will get the correct citation within seconds.
What are scientific sources?
In science, you are automatically dealing with a good source if it is a scientific source, which refers to a scientific publication in a journal or volume in which there is a peer review. This means that the article has been proofread by experienced and independent specialists. In addition, the journal or collection must be highly regarded within the scientific community.
You can find such articles in your university's digital library or via Google Scholar, among other places.
When is a source reliable?
Scientific sources are not the only sources you may use. For example, you can also refer to websites or research reports. In general, your educational institution determines what counts as a reliable source. Wikipedia, for example, is rarely approved as a source for your thesis. To be sure, check with your supervisor what the above means for you.
Our advice? It is preferable to use scientific articles from recognised journals. If that is too difficult, you can also look at other types of reliable sources. These include, for example, research reports or handbooks.
In addition, you can sometimes use websites, leaflets, or news reports. You use these types of sources mainly to explain the reason for your research. For this purpose, it is not as important whether you refer to a scientific publication or not. Suppose you want to define diabetes. The website of the Diabetes Fund, for instance, can be an excellent source. Do you want to delve into solutions for diabetes? Then a blog on the website of this fund, on the other hand, is not the best source to use.
How do I distinguish between reliable and unreliable sources?
For any source you use, it is important to check its reliability. The following questions can help you determine whether a source is reliable:
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Who is the author and what is the author's background? Is this person an authority within the field?
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How recent is the article? A 10-year-old article is less useful than a more recent one.
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How many other publications refer to this article? You can check this via Google Scholar. The more often an article is referenced, the more reliable the source is likely to be.
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Is there a peer review? That makes a publication more reliable.
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Is it a primary or secondary source? A secondary source means that an author writes about a publication by another author. For example, you read a paragraph from a textbook about a particular study. In that case, it is always wiser to read the primary source (i.e. the actual study) yourself. This is because if the textbook author does not discuss the source correctly, you will also misinterpret and misrepresent the original text.
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Who is the publisher? This question is especially important when it comes to books. Sources from well-known publishers can be seen as more reliable.
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For what reason was this information published? If the publisher or funder of research is a commercial organisation, the information may be subjective and therefore less reliable.
Pay close attention to the reliability of the source, especially when using websites. Bear in mind that anyone can put information on the internet. Therefore, check carefully who the information comes from, when it was published, and what its purpose is.
Do you use newspapers or news reports? Then, pay close attention to fake news. It is best to use only news items from leading newspapers, such as De Volkskrant, Trouw and NRC Handelsblad.
How do you properly reference sources?
Never copy sources without the appropriate reference. Refer to them properly in the main text and in your bibliography. You do this by paraphrasing or quoting the source and by referencing it in the text. This way, you avoid plagiarism.
Also, take a look at our APA examples and examples of the Legal Authors' Guide. These will give you an idea of what a good source citation looks like.
Need a source check?
Do you doubt whether you have included your sources correctly in your reading list? Then have a source check done by one of the AthenaCheck editors. This is possible for as little as € 2 per source. The editor checks all your sources so you can hand in your thesis without any concerns and with a correct source list.