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PHIL10025G: Environmental Philosophy

What Sources are Appropriate?

Appropriate sources for your assignment include scholarly discussions of philosophical topics. To complete the assignment, you will need to understand the difference between scholarly and non-scholarly sources, and between philosophical and non-philosophical topics. Watch the video and read through the key criteria for identifying scholarly, philosophical sources below.

What are Popular and Scholarly Sources? by University of Houston Libraries on YouTube

Key Criteria

To determine if a source is scholarly & philosophical, you need to look at each of the following layers:

Philosophers publish their research and theories in books, journals, and reference works (e.g. encyclopedia or dictionary). If your source does not come from a book, journal, or reference work, it is automatically not considered scholarly.

If your source comes from a book, journal or reference work, look for the following criteria to confirm that it is scholarly and philosophical:

  • For Books: check that the book is published by an university or college. In some cases, a department of philosophy will be provided as the publisher.
    See example book - published by Oxford University Press
  • For Articles from Journals and Reference works: Look for words related to philosophy in the title (e.g. Philosophy, Ethics, Moral). Or, find the description of the journal or encyclopedia where they describe the subjects covered in the publication to check that the focus of the journal is philosophy.
    See example journal article - published by Canadian Journal of Philosophy
    See example encyclopedia article - published by Encyclopedia of Ethics

Philosophers are typically academics engaged in the study of philosophy. They are usually employed by a university or other research institution. Most scholarly publications will provide the authors credentials or affiliations. Look for the institution name next to the author name.

For example:

Read the first few paragraphs of the article. Pay attention to the following:

  • Language: Should be formal, and include concepts you have studied in class.
  • Length: Usually at least a few pages long (except for encyclopedia or dictionary articles)
  • Thesis: Usually stated within the first few paragraphs or sections (except for encyclopedia or dictionary articles)

Reflect on the types of topics discussed in your philosophy course. Does the article cover similar topics?

Avoid book reviews, news sources, or other types of articles.

For example:

To be appropriate sources, all three criteria -- the publication, author, and topic -- should show signs that they are philosophical and scholarly.

Learn more about Scholarly Sources.

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