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Sources Often Referenced in College Papers

Profiles sources that students often find or see references to, identifying not only whether those sources are likely to be primary or secondary, but also indicating 1) who writes the content found in them and 2) who approves the content for publication -- two details essential to source evaluation by students. Students looking at these details can often see exactly why scholarly journals have greater prestige than content farms or Wikipedia.

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970 views

Sources Often Referenced in College Papers

Profiles sources that students often find or see references to, identifying not only whether those sources are likely to be primary or secondary, but also indicating 1) who writes the content found in them and 2) who approves the content for publication -- two details essential to source evaluation by students. Students looking at these details can often see exactly why scholarly journals have greater prestige than content farms or Wikipedia.

Uploaded by

doctorgray
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Governments and Organizations Focus Center for Responsive Politics Campaign finance Centers for Disease Control and

Preventio Diseases, epidemics National Space Science Data Center Space research U.S. Bureau of Labor Statisics Unemployment, job trends U.S. Census Bureau Population, demographics World Bank Global poverty Congressional Budget Office U.S. policy forecasts "Content Farms" About.com associatedcontent.com ehow.com ezinearticles.com suite101.com Wikis Wikipedia Focus General General General General General Focus General

Type of Source Primary Primary Primary Primary Primary Primary Primary Type of Source Tertiary Tertiary Tertiary Tertiary Tertiary Type of Source Tertiary

Impact All of these sources are frequently cited by journalists and scholars alike because they create much of the data that others use in arguments. Impact Minimal: Professional writers ignore these sources because using them would hurt their credibility and accuracy. Impact
Mixed: Even experts often look to Wikipedia for an introduction to a topic, but they take everything with a grain of salt because the articles can be edited by anyone with a mouse.

Who Writes Experts Experts Experts Experts Experts Experts Experts Who Writes Low-paid freelancers Low-paid freelancers Low-paid freelancers Self-promoting "experts" Low-paid freelancers Who Writes Anyone

Who Approves Experts Experts Experts Experts Experts Experts Experts Who Approves? Content managers Content managers Content managers Content managers Content managers Who Approves?
A team of volunteer editors looks through entries for problems, but they are spread thin and can work slowly.

URL http://www.opensecrets.org/about/index.php http://www.cdc.gov/ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/ http://www.bls.gov/ http://www.census.gov/ http://data.worldbank.org/ http://www.cbo.gov/ URL About.com associatedcontent.com ehow.com ezinearticles.com suite101.com URL Wikipedia.org

Well-Known Scholarly Journals Nature Science New England Journal of Medicine Cell Physical Review Letters Harvard Law Review

Discipline General Science General Science Medicine Biology Physics Law

Type of Source Primary Primary Primary Primary Primary Primary

ISI Impact Factor 2010 36.101 31.364 53.484 32.401 7.37


3.33 (but most cited law journal in country)

Who Writes Scientists Scientists Doctors, Scientists Biologists Physicists Legal Scholars, judges

Who Approves? Multiple Scientists Multiple Scientists Multiple Scientists Multiple Scientists Multiple Scientists

URL http://www.nature.com/nature/index.html http://www.sciencemag.org/ http://www.nejm.org/ http://www.cell.com/ http://prl.aps.org/

Student Editorial Board http://www.harvardlawreview.org/index.php

Print Newspapers Wall Street Journal New York Times Los Angeles Times Washington Post USA Today

Circulation 2,100,00 1,040,000 723,000 665,000 2,114,000

Type of Source
Usually Secondary, Sometimes Primary Usually Secondary, Sometimes Primary Usually Secondary, Sometimes Primary Usually Secondary, Sometimes Primary Usually Secondary, Sometimes Primary

# of Pulitzer Prizes in last 3 years 3 10 5 6 1

Who Writes Journalists Journalists Journalists Journalists Journalists

Who Approves? Editors Editors Editors Editors Editors

URL http://online.wsj.com/home-page http://www.nytimes.com/ http://www.latimes.com/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/ http://www.usatoday.com/

Online Newspapers Christian Science Monitor The Huffington Post Chronicle of Higher Education

Focus General news Political opinion (left) and news Education news

Type of Source
Usually Secondary, Sometimes Primary Mostly Blog-Style Op-Eds

Pulitzers
7 prior to 2002 1 (1st digital media Pulitzer on Earth, won in 2012) 1 finalist; also 7 time finalist for National Magazine Awards

Who Writes Journalists Journalists, Celebrities, Pundits, Self-Promoters Journalists, educators

Who Approves? Editors Editors Editors

URL http://www.csmonitor.com/ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ http://www.chronicle.com

Usually Secondary, Sometimes Primary

American News Service Associated Press Magazines (Print and Online)

# of Subscribing NewspapersType of Source 1,700 + Focus


Usually Primary, Sometimes Secondary

# of Pulitzer Prizes (1917-2012) 50 # of National Magazine Awards in NMA database (-2012) 16 24 52 20 10 2


Wins British and medical reporting awards instead

Who Writes Journalists Who Writes

Who Approves? Editors & subscribing newspapers Who Approves?

URL http://www.ap.org URL

Type of Source

Harper's National Geographic New Yorker The Atlantic Time Magazine U.S. News and World Report New Scientist Scientific American Slate.com The Onion CNN.com Wired The Economist Magazine The Economist

Essays, fiction Geography, science, nature General General News News Science news Science news News & commentary Satire General news Technology Focus Analysis & news

Usually Secondary Usually Secondary, Sometimes Primary Usually Secondary, Sometimes Primary Usually Secondary, Sometimes Primary Usually Secondary, Sometimes Primary Usually Secondary, Sometimes Primary Usually Secondary, Sometimes Primary Usually Secondary, Sometimes Primary Usually Secondary; Often Opinion n/a (the news "stories" are jokes) Usually Secondary, Sometimes Primary Usually Secondary, Sometimes Primary

Authors, journalists Authors, journalists Authors, journalists Authors, journalists Journalists Journalists Journalists, scientists Journalists, scientists Authors, journalists Satirists Journalists Journalists

Editors Editors Editors Editors Editors Editors Editors Editors Editors Editors Editors Editors

http://www.harpers.org/ http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ http://www.newyorker.com/ http://www.theatlantic.com/ http://www.time.com/time/ http://www.usnews.com/ http://www.newscientist.com/ http://www.scientificamerican.com/ http://www.slate.com/ http://www.theonion.com/ http://www.cnn.com/ http://www.wired.com URL http://www.economist.com/

5 1
Has good jokes Wins Peabody awards for TV news coverage instead

11 Why it's listed separately

Type of Source
Usually Secondary, Sometimes Primary

Who Writes

Who Approves?
Editors

Despite its high international Journalists and editors prestige (leaders of countries, including U.S. Presidents quote it), its authors have no bylines and it alternates between calling itself a newspaper and a magazine. As a result, it doesn't qualify for most major awards.

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