17 Research and Writing
Tracy L.F. Worley, DM PMP
Business students should be prepared to conduct research to validate and substantiate the points made in their essays. Sources should be obtained from expert or authoritative sources, and information used from these sources should be properly cited per APA standards and formatting. Research requires detailed, methodical examination of a specific topic. Every writer has an opinion about their topic, but only opinions that are corroborated by expert or authoritative sources will be considered substantiated.
An article or paper written by an expert, for example, may be used as a source. In the example below, Expository Writing Boot Camp is an expert on expository writing, and therefore their quote on the qualities of an expert source is considered authoritative and substantiates this book’s claim about using expert sources.
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“An authoritative source is reliable, well-researched, and authentic because it is widely recognized” (Expository Writing Boot Camp, 2020).
A few examples of authoritative sources are Business Week, The New York Times, or WebMD. An article in one of these publications would be considered authoritative.
Online blogs and public information sources such as Wikipedia, is not considered authoritative. It is unreliable because it is public domain, and anyone can publish with no peer review or validation of facts. However, by using the lateral reading technique of searching additional citations, affiliations, or other information found on the website, a good researcher will be able to legitimize some information found in an unreliable, non-authoritative source (Expository Writing Boot Camp, 2020).
