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Tierra Linda Speech and Debate

Credible Researching

With such an expansive scope of the internet, researching for your case – whether it be Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas, Congress, a prepared speech, or another event – can seem daunting. However, once you know the ins-and-outs of researching and finding credible sources, the process can be made a whole lot easier.

How to find reliable sources

While it may seem easy to search on Google and press the first result, there are some best practices for getting the most reliable, credible evidence for your case.

  • Focus on peer-reviewed journals, scholarly publications, and government reports, which offer high-quality, fact-checked information.
    • Use Google Scholar to find credible sources which are often good for statistics, citations, and background information
    • Add ‘pdf’ to the end of a Google Search to find more official (often .gov or .edu) sources with lots of information
    • Look at the end of the URL if you are unsure about a site. Sites that end in .gov, .edu, and .org are often pretty reliable. When it’s a .com or a .net, look a bit further into it to double-check its reliability.
  • Fact check your own information – Make sure the cards you cut align with other sources so that your opponents aren’t able to fact check you themselves
    • Don’t get too attached to any evidence you find. As you research, make sure you can’t find any sources that contradict what you have already found. If you do, go back and adjust the previous card so that your opponent can’t fact-check you (because you’re right!)
  • Check the date. There’s no ‘one-date-fits-all’, but make sure your sources aren’t too old, and are still supported by newer evidence.
    • According to the CDC from 2020, the average U.S. life expectancy was 78.8 years in 2019. 4 years later, though, the CDC reports that the average life expectancy was 77.5 years. Always check your dates.
  • Try not to use anything overly biased. While the things sociopolitically-biased publications write might sound good on a card, your opponent can easily poke holes in those arguments.
    • Try to avoid far-side sources like Fox News, MSNBC, any small-city papers, podcasts, etc. As mentioned before, scholarly, fact-checked publications are best.
    • For example, USA Facts has been regarded as having the least biased, most reliable scores, yet still covers various controversial and debated topics.