Establishing Credibility with Outside Sources

The main reason writers include outside sources in their work is to establish credibility with their audience. Credibility is the level of trustworthiness and authority that a reader perceives a writer has on a subject and is one of the key characteristics of effective writing, particularly argumentative writing.

Without credibility a writer's ideas are easily dismissed. Including outside sources in your writing indicates that your opinions are based on more than a personal or surface knowledge of the subject. It shows that others agree with your ideas, that experts in the field corroborate your reasoning and that there is hard evidence to support your opinion.

To learn more about establishing credibility, click on the links below.

Writing Guides

Using Outside Sources

Establishing Credibility with Outside Sources