AHIS10003 Chap.2 Finding and Judging Sources in Art History
Finding and Judging Sources in Art History
The research essay requires a minimum of eight authoritative references beyond the weekly readings, at least two of them refereed, and the rubric grades reference count on a scale whose top band begins above ten. That makes source work the most concretely specified skill in the subject.
This chapter covers the four markers the library module gives for a scholarly source, the distinction between expertise and peer review that the two-refereed requirement actually tests, the module's six-part PROMPT evaluation loop, and its four-stage method for turning an essay question into a search string using AND, OR, phrase quotation and truncation.
It closes on images, which the research essay requires you to reproduce and list: where to find them, why two reproductions of one painting are not two copies of one fact, and what to record before you leave the page.
What this chapter covers
- 01
The stated floor: eight authoritative references, at least two refereed
- 02
The rubric's reference bands, and why the task minimum sits in the middle of them
- 03
The four markers of a scholarly source, and the fastest one to check
- 04
Expertise and peer review as two independent axes
- 05
How to verify that a journal is refereed rather than assuming it
- 06
PROMPT: presentation, relevance, objectivity, method, provenance, timeliness
- 07
What objectivity and method mean when the evidence is a picture
- 08
Building a search string: concepts, alternatives, operators, combination
- 09
AND narrows, OR broadens, quotation marks search a phrase, an asterisk truncates
- 10
Three starting points that beat a cold search
- 11
Finding images: site searches, and the two databases the subject names
- 12
Why the reproduction you looked at is part of your evidence
Auditing eight references before you write
- 1Check the count against the stated minimum. Eight items meets the floor of eight authoritative references.
- 2Check the range. Three of the eight come from a single edited volume, so the essay leans on one editorial position three times, which the research criterion can see.
- 2Check the refereed subset. Only the two journal articles qualify, which meets the minimum of two exactly and with no margin.
- 1Name the two cheapest repairs and what each one fixes.
Key terms
- Refereed article
- An article that went through peer review before publication. It is a property of how the work was published, not of how scholarly it sounds, and the research essay requires at least two.
- Peer review
- Assessment of a submission by other specialists before publication. It is independent of whether an author is an expert, which is why a scholarly book and a refereed article are different claims.
- Authoritative reference
- A source that meets the module's four markers: written by a subject expert, created to share research, offering in-depth discussion, and supporting claims with evidence in an accessible reference list.
- PROMPT
- The module's six-part evaluation loop for a source: presentation, relevance, objectivity, method, provenance, timeliness.
- Truncation
- Searching a word stem with an asterisk so that all its endings are matched, as in multicultural* for multicultural, multiculturalism and multiculturally.
- Boolean operators
- AND narrows a search and connects different concepts; OR broadens it and connects synonyms. Brackets are needed in a single basic search box but not in Advanced Search.
- Readings Online
- The subject's weekly set readings. The eight authoritative references for the research essay must be in addition to these.
Finding and Judging Sources in Art History FAQ
How many sources does the research essay actually need?
The brief sets a minimum of eight authoritative references in addition to Readings Online, of which at least two must be refereed articles. Read that alongside the rubric's research bands, which place seven to eight references in the solidly-researched band and reserve the top band for over ten. Meeting the minimum therefore lands you mid-scale.
Both figures are published; putting them side by side is our reading, not a statement the subject makes in one place.
Does a scholarly book count as a refereed source?
It counts towards the eight, but normally not towards the two. A monograph from a serious academic press is written by an expert and carries full references, but it has usually not been through peer review in the sense the journal system means. Expertise and peer review are separate axes, and the two-refereed requirement is testing the second one.
Can I use Wikipedia or an AI tool for this subject?
The library module places non-expert sources with few or no references outside the scholarly category, and this subject separately states that artificial intelligence is not permitted in completing assessment tasks at all, naming generative AI along with translation and grammar tools.
Background reading to orient yourself is a different activity from citing, but neither can appear in your bibliography as an authoritative reference.
Why does it matter which reproduction of an artwork I look at?
The library module makes the point with two photographs of the same 1832 painting, one with a green cast and flattened detail and one clear and richly coloured. Age and format of the photograph change colour, light and clarity, which are three of the nine headings you are marked on. If your visual analysis rests on a colour relationship, the reproduction is part of your evidence.
What do I need to record when I download an image?
The six fields the list of figures requires, in the subject's order: artist's name, title of the artwork in italics, year created, medium, measurements, and collection whereabouts and collection name. Capture them while you are on the page. Going back for a measurement later costs far more than writing it down now.
Exam move
Set up the access tools in week 1, before you need them: the library's browser extensions and the Google Scholar library links take ten minutes and save an hour in week 6. Then build the habit that carries the whole task, which is writing one sentence beside each source as you add it, saying what it argues and why it is in your bibliography.
That sentence stops you citing unread work, becomes the introducing clause the rubric wants when you quote, and tells you instantly which sources to cut when you are over length. Start the bibliography in week 4 when the research questions are released, not in week 6.
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