IA Credibility of my sources?

[susan944]

topic: to what extent did the Serbian government protect the Black Hand after the assassination of archduke franz ferdinand?

ive finished most of it, but now im doubting if some of my sources are credible or not. i have 3 books but all of the rest are internet...about how many sources should i even have?

[Emmi]

To determine if your source is credible or not:

- Is it published from a reputable site? Sites that end in .edu or .gov are often reputable. Some that end in .org or .net can be reputable as well, but many others are not.

- Is there an author given? If there is you can look up credentials or something. Not saying that all pages without authors aren't credible, but more often than not they are not your best sources.

- Does the source give an overall impression that it is reputable? Are there a lot of spelling/grammar mistakes? Does it look like an academic wrote it or does it look like a fourth grader wrote it?

That is by no means an end-all list, but it should get you thinking about whether or not your internet source is reliable.

In regards to how many sources you should have, there is no minimum number. However, you should be aiming for at minimum ten sources. You need to show that you can take information from a variety of sources and use it to enhance an argument as well as show different perspectives. Have you tried looking in databases for journal articles and other types of sources? Have you included primary sources (since your topic is one where primary documents would likely be available)?