Evaluating Articles

As we discussed in the previous section, sometimes you will need the most up-to-date information about your topic. Because newspapers, magazines, and journals are published so frequently, you may end up using mostly articles in your research.

Determine the reliability and validity of articles by following a process very similar to evaluating books:

1. Look at the author’s credentials.
   • For scholarly articles, this is usually pretty simple. Academic journals are usually particular about the credentials of the authors they publish. Underneath the title on the article will be the name of the author or authors with their academic credentials starting with the primary author. If you used a database to find the article, the authors will also be listed on the abstract. Clicking on an author’s name will give you a list of all other articles in the database by the author. You can also look at the bibliography or works cited for the article, and often you will find related articles. In most academic journals, the majority of articles (with the exception of opinion pieces and news stories) are reviewed by scholars and experts before publication; this peer review process means that academic journals are usually reliable and authoritative sources.
   • For magazine articles, finding the credentials may take more digging. Often, if the author has specific credentials such as a PhD in a related field or affiliation with a specific organization such as the American Heart Association, this will be noted in the body of the article, at the end of the article, or in a section of the magazine called “Contributors’ Notes." Again, if you find this article in a database, you should be able to click on the author’s name in the database entry and retrieve a list of other articles he or she has published.
   • For newspaper articles, the writer’s credentials are most often those of a journalist. Columnists offer opinions on current events and are often experts in a field such as economics, politics, or business. You can find information about specific columnists on the paper’s website.


2. Review the article’s contents.
• For journal articles, you can read the abstract, which tells you the author’s objectives, methodology, and conclusion; if an abstract isn’t provided, you can read the introduction. The introduction often provides the same information as an abstract. If you’re writing an article about the effects of advertising on teen tobacco use, for example, a study that focuses on smokeless tobacco advertising might be just what you need to round out your research since curbing cigarette smoking gets much more attention.
• For magazine and newspaper articles, you should read the first and last paragraphs and scan the rest, making sure to look at all illustrations, photographs, and subheadings. You can also read the first and last sentences of the other paragraphs.


3. Examine the evidence.
• For journal articles, look for citations of other works. Citations include an author’s name and a publication enclosed in parentheses within the paragraph. If there are many claims made but few citations, you should be wary of the accuracy of the article.
• For magazine and newspaper articles, look for quotations in the body of the article, along with references to studies, books, or other articles. If you are writing a paper about what can be done to combat cyberbullying, for example, you might find the article “Range of Options for a Victim’s Parents” that appeared in the New York Times on December, 4, 2010. Let’s look at a short excerpt:
  
  
  
  When a child becomes entangled in an online conflict, parents understandably feel stricken. But they do not need to panic, experts say. Increasingly, parents have options, ranging from giving their child emotional support to contacting schools and the police, as well as Web sites and service providers, many of whom are tightening their processes to handle complaints. The first rule is “Do no harm,” said Parry Aftab, a cyberbully prevention expert. “Give them a hug and make sure they feel comfortable and safe. Their greatest concern is that you’re . . . going to make a ’mama drama,’ call homeland security, make it worse.”
  
  Notice that the author uses the words “experts say” and then later gives a quote and identifies the speaker as a cyberbully prevention expert. These are the types of things you should look for in magazine and newspaper articles when you’re trying to determine whether there is enough evidence to back up the author’s claims.


4. Determine bias.
• Newspapers and magazines publish opinion pieces as well as news stories and features. Notable experts in a field sometimes write opinion pieces. For example, economist Robert Reich writes opinion pieces for many papers and magazines. He is an expert in his field and provides ample evidence for his assertions. Sometimes political figures, corporate executives, or cause activists write opinion articles. They also usually provide evidence for their assertions. These authors usually present only the side of the argument with which they agree. Again, as we discussed in the section about books, the fact that the article is biased toward a point of view doesn’t necessarily make it a bad source. It just means that you need to look harder at the evidence provided. You need to think about what authors might gain if they convince the reader that their opinions are right.

Now, take a short quiz to review what you’ve learned about evaluating books and articles. Click “True” or “False” for each question.

In the next section, we will discuss how to determine whether a website is a valid and reliable source.