Each source – book, article, or Web page – has an author. After you have completed your initial research, you will likely have gathered a group of sources, each by a different author. Which authors are most valuable to you? Which should you trust most? See Using the Online Catalogue to Find Relevant Sources and How Do You Know If a Source Is Reliable? for initial steps to answering this question.

But suppose the authors disagree with one another? Whose word should you take as the most reliable? Or can there be more than one valid opinion about your theme? If your theme is "The Land Reform Program of Emiliano Zapata," scholars may disagree about the importance of Zapata's land reform program. In this case, your job is not to decide who is right but to describe the disagreement among authors. If almost all authors agree and you find only one who disagrees, then you are probably safe following the majority opinion.

Next: How to Determine an Author's Perspective