You are required to use reliable sources, including books, articles, and websites.  How do you know if a source is reliable?  Here are a few questions you can ask yourself in order to determine if a source is reliable:

Who?

• Who is the author?
• What degrees or experience does the author have?
• Is the author an expert in that field?
• Is the author affiliated with a particular institution?

What?

• Is the article or journal scholarly/peer-reviewed?
  (Scholarly/peer-reviewed articles are written by experts in that field and then reviewed by other experts in that same field for validity, accuracy, and overall quality prior to being published.)
• Does the author cite his/her sources?
• If yes, are they credible sources?

When?

• When was the source published?
• Is currency important to your topic?

Why?

• Did the author publish this source with a particular agenda in mind?
• Based on the author's word choice and tone, does the author have any particular bias?

Instructors often ask students to find “scholarly”, “academic”, or “peer reviewed” sources of information for their research.  These terms all refer to the same type of information – sources based on in-depth research, and are considered higher in quality and more reliable for your research. 

These sources can range from chapters within books or entire books, or journal articles, but all have common characteristics that can help you recognize that type of information.