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ACCT 425:The Capstone Project Assignment

About Sources for Your Research

Types of Sources to be used:

All sources must be published materials.  Use only scholarly/peer reviewed works such as journal articles, books, reports, etc.

Evaluate your sources of information:

There are five criteria to consider when evaluating the credibility of information: 

Authority: Look at the authors of the text.  Who is the author(s)? Are they experts in the field/the topic? Have the authors been cited by other authors in the field?

Currency: This examines when the article/book were published. Is the publication date right for your needs? Do you need current or historical information? The age of the information cited in the article/book?

Content: How relevant is the information to your topic? Is the target audience appropriate? Is the article/book written in academic or scholarly language?

Accuracy: How adequately the authors explained the research methodology used? Can you verify the accuracy in other sources? Is it peer-reviewed?

Bias: This examines if the research was sponsored by an organization? (Note: Organizations may have motives). Is the author trying to sell or push a product or service? Do other authors agree with the author's point of view?                                                              

For more information on how to evaluate the source of information, see the library research guide -- Evaluating Sources.

Where to start looking:

  • Look for peer-reviewed resources in the databases listed under "recommended sources"
  • Articles from Google Scholar are acceptable
  •  Limit to sources published within the last 10 years (for research where currency of information is required).