edShare@GCU

Lawson, Morna

edShare@GCU (Glasgow Caledonian University)

An academically credible source is a source that you can confidently reference in 
your coursework because it is 
• transparent  the originator of the material is clearly stated 
 
• authoritative  the information is reliable because it has been rigorously 
evaluated to ensure that it is accurate and unbiased 
 
• verifiable readers can follow up on the source 
 
 
✓✓✓ Academic textbooks and journal publications go through a rigorous process to 
ensure that the information meets academic quality standards. However, published 
material can go out of date quickly, either because a field of research is evolving rapidly (eg 
anything involving technology) or because of external events (eg a lot of material about the 
effectiveness of bank regulation published before the financial crisis of 2007 is not 
relevant).  
 
✓✓✓ Websites of governmental and non-governmental organisations are generally 
regarded as credible sources, although not all countries have the same standards of 
transparency and honesty in reporting data. Government websites have lots of factual 
information, statistics and reports. Non-governmental organisations area useful source of 
up-to-date research reports. As a rule of thumb, organisations that produce their own 
research are more credible, but bear in mind that they may have political or ideological 
beliefs that lead to bias    
 
✓✓Company websites provide useful factual information about organisations but 
remember that the primary function of an organisation’s website is to present the 
organisation in a positive light - your job is to read the website with a critical eye to identify 
bias. Always find out the name and purpose of an organisation before using it. As a general 
rule, if a website is promoting products, it is not intended to be used as an academic 
resource.  
 
 
XXX Websites like Wikipedia, Businessballs,  BBC BiteSize, schools.net are very good at 
what they do, but they are not academically credible sources at university.  
• BusinessBalls is essentially a collection of business and management training tools, 
designed for people at work, not students. Like many websites for business 
professionals, it does not produce its own research and it’s not accredited by a 
professional body – the minimum requirement for a website to have academic 
value.  
• BBC Bite-size and schools.net does not provide depth of analysis at the level 
required for university.  
• Wikipedia has lots of useful information with academic sources, but because it can 
be edited by any one, it can’t control quality as rigorously as academic publishers.   
 
x Lectures and seminars cannot be cited as a reference in your coursework. Although they 
are an excellent way of gaining knowledge and understanding of an issue, the lecture itself 
is a compilation of information from different unverifiable sources. If you want to write 
about a concept, theory or idea that was presented in a lecture, you need to read 
textbooks and academic journals. 
 
? Newspapers are useful if you want to information about events, but the quality of 
research and analysis is often not reliable. If a newspaper reports the result of a research 
study or government report, you should look for the original source in an academic journal 
r on a government website, rather than just relying on the newspaper.
 


Quality of sources

Breaking down your essay question into sub-questions (as below) can often 
be the basis of the plan/structure of your essay  
 
Title 
Critically evaluate how gender equality can be addressed in Science 
Technology, Engineering and Mathematics professions (2500 words) 
 
Introduction (roughly 10% of wordcount – 200-250 words) 
 
Main Body of Essay (2000 - 2100 words approximately) 
 
 What does gender inequality look like in the STEM professions currently? 
(300 words) 
Read and write about: Trends, patterns, ‘levels’ of inequality - e.g. numbers of 
men in management compared with women 
 Why are there fewer women employed in STEM professions? (500 words) 
Read and write about: Key reasons according to textbooks and research for 
levels of inequality 
 Why is it important for more women to be employed in STEM professions? 
(300 words) 
Read and write about: Focus on what research tells me about the contribution 
women can and have made to STEM profession... 
 How have organisations aimed to effectively attract more women into STEM 
professions? (900 words) 
Read and write about: Focus on research on approaches/strategies that have 
been introduced to attract more women into STEM professions e.g. 
MENTORING - organisational example... what is written about effectiveness 
and limitations of these approach... 
 
Conclusion: (roughly 5-10% of word count – 150-250 words) 
 
There’s more information about how to write effective introductions and 
conclusions at this link 
 
https://edshare.gcu.ac.uk/6329/1/Writing%20introductions%20and%20conclu
sions.pdf  
 


Planning

 
Critical reading for assignments: reading research articles 
A journal article refers to an article, usually a research study, that is published 
in an academic journal and reviewed by experts in the field to ensure they 
meet required academic standards. Unlike a textbook, which aims to provide a 
broad overview of an issue, a journal article has a narrow focus. It reports on  
research into a specific issue or problem in a clearly defined location or 
organisation. 
 
Journal articles are written academic researchers for other researchers in their 
field, so it is assumed that readers have knowledge of key concepts, issues and 
perspectives. For this reason, journal articles are challenging to read. They can 
be very long and complex. However, you very rarely need to read the whole 
article – be selective and decide in advance what you are looking for.  The 
guide on the next two pages will help you to read a journal article more 
efficiently. 
 
You may come across unfamiliar terms or theoretical concepts in a journal 
article. These are often not explained because it is expected that readers will 
be familiar with them. If these are important in understanding the article, find 
an explanation that you understand in another source like a textbook.   
 
When you start reading about a new subject, the unfamiliarity can be 
overwhelming and you may feel completely lost.  Don’t despair! The more 
you read around a topic, the more familiar the key concepts and issues in the 
literature will become. After a few weeks reading, you’ll be much more 
comfortable.   
 
  
 
Question to direct reading:  
Reference details: (it’s useful to make  a note of the source here – it will save you a lot of 
time later) 
What is the research article about? 
Read abstract, introduction and conclusion sections to decide if it’s relevant to your 
coursework. 
Scan the paper further to find out:  
• research problem explored or stated aim? 
• reason for undertaking the research?  
• key themes/issues explored?  
• main findings and recommendations?  
• main ideas /models and/or theories used?  
• what new knowledge, understanding or insights about the issue does this article 
contribute that is relevant to my assignment? 
How suitable were the research methods used?  
• how were data collected – interviews; focus groups; questionnaire; survey…?  
• how effective/appropriate were these methods?  
• how important are the methods used in this study for my assignment? 
In what way is this study relevant/useful to my 
assignment…presentation…seminar/What can I use?  
• new understanding of best/innovative practice? 
• explanation of how theory is applied to practice?  
• identification and comparison of strategies and solutions that could improve practice 
• identification of challenges and why arise?  
• development of model to guide practice? 
 
In what way does this study’s findings compare to another study’s? This is a way of 
demonstrating critical reading and understanding  
Does this study give you similar findings or different findings from other studies you have 
read – in what way? If different, so what? Why might the studies have produced different 
results? 
Does one study add to/advance the findings of another – how?  
If this is an earlier study, how does it compare with a more recent? 
 
Relevant ‘direct quote’ from paper for possible inclusion in course work  
• Clear definition? 
• Concise and relevant point of view? 
What does this direct quote add to my discussion?  
 
 
 


template for reading research

An academically credible source is a source that you can confidently reference in 
your coursework because it is 
• transparent  the originator of the material is clearly stated 
 
• authoritative  the information is reliable because it has been rigorously 
evaluated to ensure that it is accurate and unbiased 
 
• verifiable readers can follow up on the source 
 
 
✓✓✓ Academic textbooks and journal publications go through a rigorous process to 
ensure that the information meets academic quality standards. However, published 
material can go out of date quickly, either because a field of research is evolving rapidly (eg 
anything involving technology) or because of political or economic events that create 
change. 
  
✓✓✓ Websites of governmental and non-governmental organisations are generally 
regarded as credible sources, although not all countries have the same standards of 
transparency and honesty in reporting data. Government websites have lots of factual 
information, statistics and reports. Non-governmental organisations are a useful source of 
up-to-date research reports. As a rule of thumb, organisations that produce their own 
research are more credible, but bear in mind that they may have political or ideological 
beliefs that lead to bias. If you want to find out about a website’s affiliations, you can find 
out about the organisation by clicking ‘About’ at the bottom of the page. If you’re still not 
sure, look it up online. 
 
✓✓Company websites provide useful factual information about organisations but 
remember that the primary function of an organisation’s website is to present the 
organisation in a positive light - your job is to read the website with a critical eye to identify 
bias. Always find out the name and purpose of an organisation before using it. As a general 
rule, if a website is promoting products, it is not intended to be used as an academic 
resource.  
 
 
XXX Websites like Wikipedia, Encyclopedia Britannica, Business Balls, BBC BiteSize, 
schools.net are very good at what they do, but they are not academically credible sources 
at university.  
 
• BusinessBalls is essentially a collection of business and management training tools, 
designed for people at work, not students. Like many websites for business 
professionals, it does not produce its own research and it’s not accredited by a 
professional body – the minimum requirement for a website to have academic 
value.  
• BBC Bite-size and schools.net does not provide depth of analysis at the level 
required for university.  
• Wikipedia has lots of useful information and many entries cite academic sources, but 
because it can be edited by any one, it can’t control quality as rigorously as academic 
publishers.  
• Like Wikipedia, Britannica and other online encyclopedias have lots of useful 
information, but they are not academic sources 
 
All of these sources may provide useful information, but they are not regarded as 
acceptable academic sources, so you should not cite them in your assignments. 
 
XXX Lectures and seminars cannot be cited in your coursework. Although they are an 
excellent way of gaining knowledge and understanding of an issue, the lecture itself is a 
compilation of information from different unverifiable sources. If you want to write about a 
concept, theory or idea that was presented in a lecture, you need to read textbooks and 
academic journals. 
 
? Newspapers are useful if you want to information about events, but the quality of 
research and analysis is often not reliable. If a newspaper reports the result of a research 
study or government report, you should look for the original source in an academic journal 
or on a government website, rather than just relying on the newspaper.
 


What source should I use?

 
 
What’s the difference between a textbook and a journal article? 
 
A text book is written for students who may not be familiar with a topic or area 
of study – it’s a good starting point if you want to get a broad overview of a 
field. It introduces you to some of the key issues and concerns of researchers 
and practitioners in the field. It’s a good place to find a range of definitions and 
explanations of relevant models.  
 
 
A journal article refers to an article, usually a research study, that is published 
in an academic journal. A journal article refers to an article, usually a research 
study, that is published in an academic journal and reviewed by experts in the 
field to ensure they meet required academic standards. Unlike a textbook, 
which aims to provide a broad overview of an issue, a journal article has a 
narrow focus. It reports on research into a specific issue or problem in a clearly 
defined location or organisation.  
 
Unlike text books, which are written for a general audience, journal articles are 
written for academic researchers, so they are much more challenging to read.  
The guides at the links below will help you read more efficiently and more 
critically  
 
How to read a text book 
https://edshare.gcu.ac.uk/6304/1/Template%20for%20reading%20textbooks.
pdf 
 
How to read a journal article  
https://edshare.gcu.ac.uk/6333/1/Template%20for%20reading%20research%2
0articles.pdf  


Glasgow Caledonian University

Not a member yet

Quality of sources

Planning

template for reading research

What source should I use?

difference between text books and journal articles

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