Evaluating Sources

In addition to the other Criteria for Evaluating Sources, scholarly works should be subject to an additional level of scrutiny. You will want to identify the thesis statement of a scholarly work. A thesis is the governing idea, proposition, claim, or point of a paper that allows room for debatable interpretation. A good scholarly work proceeds to support the thesis with facts, data, and examples that allow the reader to fully understand the argument, while anticipating objections to the thesis and explaining why various alterative ideas are rejected.

Identifying the thesis statement in a scholarly book or article allows you to determine fairly quickly whether the item will help to support your own work. A thesis cannot always be conveyed in one sentence, nor will it always appear in the same place in every essay, chapter, or article, but it can usually found in the opening paragraphs of an article, or the preface or introduction of a book.

A strong thesis statement:

• justifies discussion through its significance
• expresses one main idea that guides the rest of the work
• is specific
• makes claims that are arguable, but not obvious

The Purdue Online Writing Lab provides examples of thesis statements.

You can get additional help with writing and thesis statements at the Center for Instructional Innovation.