Examples of the types of information that aren't substantial or appropriate sources of evidence for your academic papers.

1. What your professors don’t want to see in
your works cited list

2. To Cite or Not to Cite?
It’s not an
easy
question.
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3. And the answer is…
It depends! It’s hard to label different kinds
of information as “good” or “bad” because it
depends on how you might use the
information and for what purpose.
That being said, the following are some
examples of sources that don’t provide the
most substantial information on a topic.

4. Keep in mind
But first, a quick review...
When evaluating information, always
consider:
•Relevance – it may be related to your topic,
but how is it useful to you?
•Authority – who wrote it and why do you
trust them?

5. Review, cont…
•Bias – It’s your job to recognize bias and
consider how it may affect a source’s
credibility and usefulness
•Substantial? - Is it the most substantial
information you can find on the topic? (Hint,
hint…this is where many students go wrong)

6. Studies Show…
How often do you hear that
phrase?
Beware of news articles that
give brief summaries of
research or studies, often
with sensational headlines or
cherry-picked facts.
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7. Studies Show…
This article from BBC News
is a good example.
Although BBC News is a
reputable news source,
this article does not
provide substantial
information on the topic.

8. Studies show…
The text of the article
mentions several research
studies that would provide
more substantial
information.
You should find the studies!
Some are even linked from
the BBC article.

9. Studies show…
Don’t rely on the brief summary of the research study!
As a student scholar, your job is to delve deeper, read the
actual study yourself, and decide what you think about the
results.
If the study isn’t linked in the article you could search Google
or Google Scholar for keywords….or you could just ask a
librarian to help you find it. 

10. But it’s in a peer-reviewed journal…
Not all articles published in peer-
reviewed journals are equal. In addition
to original research articles, you will also
find things like:
• letters to the editor
• Editorials
• book reviews
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11. Peer-reviewed journals, cont.
This is a citation for an article found in one of our
library databases:
Naughton, Michael. “The Sharing Economy.(Book
Review).” Review of Social Economy, vol. 64, no. 1,
2006, pp. 130–134.
This is a scholarly,
peer-reviewed
journal

12. Peer-reviewed journals, cont.
But the article itself is a review of a book. Here’s
an excerpt:
You wouldn’t cite the book review, but you might look
for the book if it looked relevant and useful to you.

13. No content farms!
We’re sure you know this
already, but just in case there is
any lingering doubt, never trust
the information from sites like
this, which are content farms.
They produce mass quantities
of low-quality information,
often aggregated from other
sites, for the sole purpose of
generating ad revenue. https://money.howstuffworks.com/sharing-economy.htm

14. Wrap Up
These are just a few examples
of the kinds of things that
probably shouldn’t show up
in your Works Cited list.
And when in doubt, ask a
librarian!