Scholarly Peer-Reviewed Sources
Scholarly peer-reviewed sources
have usually been critically evaluated by other experts who do not know who the author is
(called a blind review). This process attempts to ensure that the source
is judged by its quality and not by the reputation of the author.
They document their sources via footnotes and/or a bibliography.
It may be hard to tell at first glance what is a scholarly peer-reviewed work.
For example, some articles, webpages and books may not have gone through a rigourous peer-reviewed process themselves.
They may be a great starting place for information aimed at a general audience,
and for other sources themselves, but they should not be the only sources you use, and in some cases, like Wikipedia for example, they are inappropriate sources for
your citations. Information should be verified and explored more deeply using scholarly peer-reviewed works.
Another issue to consider is whether a quality source is a primary, secondary or tertiary source, especially for historical information.
Belk Library's Evaluating Sources for Credibility Tutorial
Belk Library's Evaluating Authority Tutorial
Belk Library's Popular and Scholarly Sources Tutorial
Belk Library's Primary and Secondary Sources
Question 1: Briefly summarize some important points in the videos (informal bullet points are fine here).
Finding Historical Connections and Real-Life Applications
Question 2: Next,
search the library databases for at least three quality sources related to historical connections or real-life applications of
your preliminary topic, and identify the sources as peer-reviewed or not.
The Mathematics Subject Guide databases
are a great place to begin.
Question 3: Include at least one scholarly peer-reviewed source, and indicate how you can tell that it is.
Question 4: Search for historical connections of your topic in more general web sources and searches, like
Earliest Known Uses of
Some of the Words of Mathematics (Miller, J, 2008), which can provide the first published
appearance of terms such as surfaces.
Use some general searches to try to find some diverse people and cultures who contributed to your topic in some way. Report back on how this search went.
Note: Sometimes a general search is helpful to find historical connections so that you can follow up to find them in a more scholarly source.
Your capstone paper will (eventually) contain peer-reviewed and scholarly sources (so no general webpages for instance).
Where to Get Help
You can make a RAP appointment with the Library for help with your research
The University Writing Center
can help with your writing.
I have some books in my office that can also help with some of your topics.