In this essay I am going to evaluate a range of sources that cover the topic of the impact of humans on ocean acidification and summarise the pros and cons of each source type.

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4SSG1008

Geography Tutorials: Critical Thinking and Techniques

Geography Tutorial Group G1

Submission Date: 17th October 2011

Assignment 1: Evaluation of Sources

Topic: “the impact of humans on ocean acidification”

Word Count: 1116

Introduction

The term ocean acidification is used to describe the ongoing decrease in ocean pH caused by human CO2 emissions, such as the burning of fossil fuels (UK Ocean Acidification Research Programme, 2011). In this essay I am going to evaluate a range of sources that cover the topic of the impact of humans on ocean acidification and summarise the pros and cons of each source type.

 Discussion

Articles published in peer-reviewed journals are considered to be of the highest quality. They must undergo a thorough review process, with multiple professional experts and reviewers involved. As a result of their expertise, data can be presented in a clear, factual and appropriate way. The use of peer review conveys a variety of opinions that can help remove any personal biases and at the same, highlight new ideas and innovation.

The three journal articles I examined: (Hoegh-Guldberg et al., 2008), (Sponberg 2007), and Wood et al. (2008) have all been peer reviewed by both scientists and professionals in the field. For example, Hoegh-Guldberg et al. (2008) is reviewed by several named professionals as well as an anonymous reviewer. As a result of this scrutiny, journals such as this have a balanced argument and are transparent in their methods, data and working.

Hoegh-Guldberg et al. (2008) is written by various authors, all of which have scientific backgrounds related to ocean acidification. Furthermore, the fact that Hoegh-Guldberg et al (2008) is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) confirms the importance and value of the research presented within the article. Additionally, the authors are extensively cited, adding to the credibility of this article. Wood et al. (2008) consists of research conducted by researchers and scientists from Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) in association with Plymouth University. Interestingly, much of the research conducted is used by the UK Government and is published in well-established and highly respected journals (Proceedings of The Royal Society B). A clear sign of the high standard of scientific research carried out by the authors.  As well as being published in highly regarded scientific journals, when the publisher is a university press; the source is likely to be scholarly. For example, (Sponberg, 2007) is published by the University of California Press. Although scientists or professionals in the field, the authors of all three journals heavily cite fellow scientists frequently in their articles. Sponberg (2008) mentions research carried out by universities as well as Thomas Love-joy, a senior adviser to the president of both the World Bank and United Nations Foundation.

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In contrast, newspapers and popular scientific magazines (PSM) are not peer reviewed and do not go through such a rigorous process of editing or reviewing. Instead, newspapers and PSMs will go through a copy-editing process, in which the formatting, style, accuracy of text, balance and facts of the article are checked.

Journalists, who often do not have any credential on the subject of interest write newspapers articles. A clear example of this is Carrell (2009), and Gray (2009) who don’t have science degrees and who write about different issues on a weekly basis. Therefore, newspapers can potentially be ...

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