Tell students the ways in which authors establish credibility to help students evaluate sources and establish credibility within their writing.

Action:

  • Enumerate or have students brainstorm ways in which authors establish credibility. For example,
    Referencing a broad range of scholarly articles about a topic.
    Referencing seminal works within a domain.
    References scholarly rather than popular or opinion sources.
    Presents evidence to support the argument.
    Distinguishes between their ideas and the ideas of others.

Reason:

  • Understanding the disciplinary ways in which authors establish credibility is important for both evaluating and generating research papers.