3. Clarify the terms and definitions you use for source qualities

Welcome to Part 3 and thanks for being here!

Source qualities are particularly challenging for students to understand and the main problems are as follows:

Problem 1: Students are confused by the different terms and definitions we use to talk about source qualities.

In Part 2 you learned how confusing the source term 'website' can be for students. But students get even more confused when we start labeling sources with qualities like 'scholarly,' 'academic,' 'peer-reviewed,' 'credible,' etc.  We have too many synonymous words for these qualities, and none of them are particularly well-defined.

For example, imagine you're a student who has just started college and one of your instructors tells you to find and consult 'academic papers' while another instructor tells you to find and consult 'scholarly studies.' Yet another instructor tells you to use 'credible sources.' 

Students might also hear one instructor ask them to use 'peer-reviewed sources' while another instructor might tell them to use 'refereed sources.' Or, consider that journal articles might be labeled any of the following interchangeably: 

So, we're all over the map when it comes to labeling sources with qualities like scholarly, academic, peer-reviewed, refereed, credible, primary, secondary, research, empirical, popular, etc. Plus students are further confused by interchangeable terms like 'articles,' 'papers,' 'studies,' or 'the literature.' 

How is Cline Library's Research and Instruction Services (RIS) team addressing this problem? 

Lesson 3 of the Information Literacy Tutorial (https://ac.nau.edu/lms-apps/self-enroll/447456) is devoted to explaining source qualities to students and this lesson specifically focuses on these terms: scholarly, peer-reviewed, popular, and credible, as well as primary and secondary. Please take a look at that lesson to see what students are learning! Note that the first page of Lesson 3 provides the following disclaimer to students:

Lesson 3 explains that academic sources are the same as scholarly sources, and that peer-reviewed sources are the same as refereed sources. This lesson also shows students how certain source qualities relate to each other; for example, peer-reviewed sources are a subset of scholarly sources, which are a subset of credible sources, like you see in the Venn diagram to the left.

Since most students struggle with the concept of primary and secondary sources, the tutorial explains those qualities as well and emphasizes that what counts as a primary or secondary source depends on the discipline. This is a constant source of confusion for students since often their instructors are unaware (!) that what counts as a primary or secondary source is discipline-specific. 

Imagine taking a biology class and an English literature class and being asked in both classes to find primary sources for an assignment – without having it explained to you that information that's considered 'primary' is delivered in different types of sources in these two disciplines! 

How can YOU help address this problem? 

It would be great if, as an institution, we could agree on preferred terms and definitions to use for source qualities so students didn't encounter so many variations from different instructors. But since that's unlikely to happen, the next best thing is to try to use a consistent set of terms in your course, and explain to students what you mean by those terms. 

For example, if you consider peer-reviewed sources to include both scholarly journal articles as well as scholarly books (as some NAU faculty do) then explain that to students. If you think the only type of credible source is a peer-reviewed journal article (as some NAU faculty do) then explain that to students. In other words, be detailed and explicit about what you mean when you discuss source qualities. 

The table shown to the right gives you a sense of how difficult assignment instructions can be for students to interpret. Take a look at what students have to clarify with their instructor in order to get a clear picture of the sources they must use!


  *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *


There are no particular assignment ideas associated with this problem, instead, just strive to use consistent terminology and carefully define the terms you use.


Problem 2: Students gravitate towards rigid, unnuanced definitions of source qualities.

Students will likely hear many of their instructors tell them to consult scholarly (a.k.a. academic) and/or peer-reviewed sources for their assignments, and sometimes this leads to the misconception that they should only use scholarly sources – no matter what their information need is. Many students also develop the notion that scholarly sources are guaranteed to contain 100% accurate and reliable information all the time. Students may develop a corresponding conviction that popular sources are bad and should not be used. 

Obviously scholarly and/or peer-reviewed sources regularly contain flaws and inaccuracies, nor are they competing with popular sources to be superior; rather these different types of sources are intended for different purposes. So, we need to help students gain a more nuanced, realistic understanding of sources.

How is Cline Library's Research and Instruction Services (RIS) team addressing this problem?

Lesson 3 of the Information Literacy Basics tutorial (https://ac.nau.edu/lms-apps/self-enroll/447456) touches on some of these issues, but that lesson doesn't go in-depth because these skills are more advanced and harder to teach. So, that's where you come in!

How can YOU help address this problem?

Consider creating assignments that explore the purpose, value, and flaws of both scholarly and popular sources in your discipline. We especially need to manage students' expectations of scholarly sources, so explain that these sources represent our current best effort to share reliable and accurate information. However, it's just an effort and not a guarantee, which means that information in scholarly sources can be flawed and unreliable. 

When you talk about source qualities like scholarly, peer-reviewed, credible, popular, etc. you also have the perfect opportunity to explain how different information sources are vetted through processes such as editorial review, peer review, and fact-checking – and the imperfections of these processes.

Regarding these assignment ideas:

Comment on this content and/or collaborate with NAU librarians to find other solutions to these problems!

The content on this page is a work in progress and we'd love to improve it! Cline Library's Research and Instruction Services team is interested to hear any comments or suggestions you have on the content presented on this page, or your ideas for other solutions. Also, if you've already created assignments that address these issues, or you have ideas for assignments that would help address these issues, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us!