My professor warned me about citing a think tank paper and I didn't listen

Last fall in my poli sci class at UMass, I cited a report from a conservative think tank for a group project. My professor pulled me aside after class and said 'that source is going to get your grade tanked.' I brushed her off. Fast forward to my final paper, she gave me a C+ and wrote 'biased source' all over the margins. Has anyone else had a professor call out a specific source as 'not allowed'?

2 comments

2 Comments

angelac631mo ago

that source is going to get your grade tanked" is so real honestly. Professors know which ones are straight up propaganda... I had one tell me no Fox News, no Breitbart, no Heritage Foundation. But they let me cite things like Center for American Progress without a peep. It's frustrating when you think you found something solid and it's basically poison for your grade.

alices161mo ago

@angelac63 your professor is right to flag those. The trick is to cite think tanks across the aisle but only ones with actual research methodology. CAP is left leaning but they publish detailed methodology and data sets. Heritage does too sometimes but their op eds are a minefield. Stick to the journals and government reports they cite instead.