The Key to Finding the Best Evidence
Understanding the Topic

Background Information
◦ Wikipedia: not to be cited
◦ Google: best tool, but make sure to look past
the first page
◦ When using google, look for articles that are
PDF(s) or link to scholarly sources
Describe primary argument in one sentence
Include: Author(s). Qualifications. (Date). Source Title.
Source Publication. (URL- cut & paste it here if there is one.
Evidence is cut and pasted. No “sound bites” – no selectivity
Or bias.
No use of … ellipses – this can mean disqualification.
Full disclosure.
Have full article also.
HOW TO FORMAT EVIDENCE

Think-tanks and Databases:
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
hoover institute (Stanford)
economic policy institute
urban institutecato institute (liberal)
heritage foundation (conservative)
brookings institute
American enterprise institute (conservative)
The center for strategic and international studies
Center for American progress (liberal)
Center on budget and policy priorities
National center for policy analysis
Progressive policy institute (liberal)
Democratic leadership council (liberal)
Public agendaAmerican center for democracy
Human rights watch
Starting Evidence Accumulation

Limited access databases:
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
CIAO (Columbia international affairs online)
Global insight
Ingenta connect
JSTOR
Policyfile
Project muse
Proquest
Questia
Sage
Science direct
Springer link
Wiley interscience
Worldwide political abstracts
Accumulation (cont.)



Govt accountability office (GOA)
Congressional budget office (CBO)
Any other branch directly related to the topic
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
National institute of health (NIH)
Environmental protection agency (epa)
Center for disease control and prevention (CDC)
federal reserve board (the fed)
Social Sciences Research Network
National Bureau of Economic Research
Free Databases and Government
Sources


Often opinionated
Create online free access account:
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
The economist
Foreign affairs
Foreign policy
Harvard international review
Brown journal of world affairs
Policy review
Harvard business review
Mit sloan management review
Time
Newsweek
Business week
The new York times
The wall street journal
The LA Times
Online Periodicals


Search the college with your key words in a search
engine
More quality sources:
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Harvard
Stanford
Mit
Upenn: knowledge@wharton
Yale
Princeton
Dartmouth
Columbia
Berkeley
Duke
Univ Chicago
Brown
Georgetown
University Resources





Books can be a great source of “big
picture” information
Amazon.com: “key word” searches
Google books
WorldCat
Ebrary
In-depth Analysis: Books
Make sure to always have every article
highlighted and in round with you
(organize by alphabet: author/study
name)
 For complex studies, make sure to
summarize them in 5-6 sentences
 Fact sheets: used to quickly organize all
available evidence on a specific argument

Organizing your Evidence