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Research Guides@Tufts

ENG 1: Fall 2019 with Adam Spellmire

Source Attributes

Attributes of a scholarly source

  • credentialed author
  • intended for a specialist audience
  • non-profit publication (not supported by ad revenue), usually an academic journal
  • peer-reviewed
  • extensive bibliography
  • makes a research-supported argument that is part of a conversation

Attributes of a "popular" source

  • author may not be a credentialed "expert"
  • intended for a wide, general audience
  • publication may have a bias (political bias, or supported by ad revenue)
  • may not have a bibliography, or cite any sources
  • doesn't necessarily have a unique argument (news, factual recounting of information) or has an argument unsupported by research ("op-eds," opinion pieces)

Head of the W. Van Alan Clark, Jr. Library

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Darin Murphy
Contact:
W. Van Alan Clark, Jr. Library
SMFA at Tufts
230 The Fenway
Boston, MA 02115
Office: 617 627 0021