Periodical Articles:
A Guide to Evaluating, Obtaining,
and Citing Periodical Articles

 

Evaluating Articles (continued)

In evaluating articles, be especially careful to consider how suitable the article is for your topic and your needs. The article may provide information which is too basic, or too advanced, for your use. It may cover the right general topic, but not for the right times or places. It may be too dated for you to use.

 

Also consider the following criteria in evaluating an article's suitability for your needs:

Scope & Relevance

 

 
  • Who is the intended audience? General, specialized readership, scholars?
  • What is the level of the material? Basic, advanced?
  • Is the material appropriate and useful for your purposes?
Coverage
  • What time period is covered?
  • What geographical area is covered?
  • How comprehensive and specific is the information?
Currency & Timeliness
  • How recent is the book or article?
  • How important is this to you and/or your topic?

 

A Question:
Carmen and Gloria have been told to write a paper on the use of marijuana in the 1960s using primary sources (sources from the same time as the events they describe). They have found some articles on marijuana use in the 1960s which were written in the 1990s. They have also found some articles on present-day marijuana use. Are these the articles which Carmen and Gloria should use in writing their paper?

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Page created by: Kate Manuel.
Last update: Tuesday, December 07, 2004 .