| I have difficulty finding good sources (A13-A15, C2-C4).
The book’s contents
• Define the status of the book as (a) monograph, (b) textbook, (c) edited volume (C2). Consider whether this approach suits your needs.
• Look at the titles and the table of contents. What do you already know about the topic? What would you like to know about the topic? Do you think you can anticipate that the analytical focus of the author correlates positively with your areas of interest?
• Get an impression of the kind of sources that the book is based on in order to find out how original the analysis is, and how useful it might be for your purposes:
• If the authors mainly use secondary sources, the main function of the analysis will be in reinterpretation and theory building.
• If many primary sources are revealed, the valued-added of the book could be empirical, presenting new data. But does this data really add to your existing knowledge?
• Most importantly: get an idea of the reliability of the sources (and of the book):
• If the authors use a very limited number of sources, it may indicate that the work is primarily conceptual, very creative, but it could also indicate plagiarism (see below for further indicators)!
• If the sources are not revealed adequately (E*), i.e. many quotes or tables and figures have been included without a proper source, the book will be useless for serious scientific use, because it is unreliable and difficult to check. The author is prone to plagiarism (E*).
• Other indicators of an inadequate revelation of sources include: o factual information without a source; o use of information obtained during interviews without really explaining how they were held (E*);
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entire sections which are referred to by one source only (mentioned at the beginning of the section: ‘this section is primarily based on .....’);
- inconsistent or insufficient references, indicate that the author may not have been very precise in the research project either.
• Skim through the tables and figures for originality and reliability. Assess the tables and figures: do they include recent data? Are they functional (E*)? Are most of the tables based on other sources - implying that the study is primarily a reinterpretation of existing material? Does the study include any new tables and figures - showing more interesting empirical data?
• Look at the index. How well developed is the index? Are many key words familiar to you? If you are working on a concrete research project or essay compare the index with your own list of key words (E*). Check one of the key words and assess the text it refers to. The more key words that are of interest to you, the more reading the entire book becomes an option.
• Consider the bibliography:
• if you are familiar with the topic: what sources did you expect; were your expectations fulfilled?
• if you are unfamiliar: check publisher’s reputation, and the number of promising sources.
Skim through the opening sections and the conclusions.
In particular, read the first and the last lines of the book: (1) what is the nature of the first line: introductory, a question, a clear observation?; (2) what is the nature of the last line: popularising, pathetic, clear and compact; (3) do the first and the last lines relate to each other: is the last line an answer to the first line, or is there no relation at all?
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