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Sources

When writing papers, college students have many types of sources at their disposal, including books, magazine articles, journal articles, websites, pamphlets, and newspapers.  Some of the sources that you find will be reliable and helpful, but others will be problematic.  Before you decide to use information from any source in your paper, make sure that it is a source that your readers (and your professor!) will find trustworthy.

 

You may want to use . . .

 

But you will probably avoid . . .

 

an article from Time, if you're researching a paper about a current event for a general audience. an article from a supermarket tabloid, regardless of who you're writing to or why.
   
several issues of Seventeen, if you're researching the fashion trends being touted to teenage girls. an article from Seventeen, when you're researching a paper on a medical condition for an educated, adult audience.
   
a book printed by an academic publisher and written by an expert in the field you're researching. a book printed by a vanity publisher.
   
an article from The New England Journal of Medicine, if your assignment calls for you to use articles from academic journals. an article from Ladies Home Journal, if your assignment calls for you to use articles from academic journals.  Don't let the title fool you; Ladies Home is a magazine, not an academic journal.
 
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