Academics · Study Skills

Every source,
checked and ready to cite.

A research paper is only as strong as its weakest source, and the quote you cannot find again is the one you need at midnight. Add each source as you read it: the key point in your own words, the quote and its page, how you will use it and five quick checks on whether to trust it.

Add a sourceWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $5

Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Study skills kit, $29 for 21 items.

Your sources

The worked example is made up around real sources: two strong ones on later school start times and an unsigned blog post. Saved on this device only.

Loading the source form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Academics · Study Skills$5

What you finish with
A record per source: title, author, kind, year, where it was found, the key point, a quote with its page, its use (background, evidence or counterargument) and five credibility checks. Counts checks passed and the source’s age; the side panel counts sources by use and how many pass four or more checks. Flags unsigned web pages, old sources on fast-moving topics, weak sources, quotes with no page and a paper with no counterargument source.
Who it is for
Middle school, high school and early college students writing a research paper or project.
Format
Browser organizer with a saved record per source. Prints one source, every source in a table or a blank sheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Study skills kit ($29) and the Academics Suite pass ($149), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Study Skills space in Caveat Academics.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Add a source the moment you decide to use it.
  2. Write the key point in your own words, then the quote and its page.
  3. Run the five checks, opening other tabs for who and cross-check.
  4. Mark how you will use it.
  5. Before drafting, replace any source that passes fewer than three checks.

Add a source

Five checks

Five checks, and what each one asksCheckAskWhere to lookWhoWho wrote it, and why trust them?About page, author bio, a searchWhenIs it recent enough for this topic?Date at the top or in the citationEvidenceWhere do the facts come from?Citations, data, a methods sectionPurposeIs it informing, selling or arguing?Ads, tone, who paid for itCross-checkDoes an independent source agree?Search the claim in a new tabFive checks, and what each one asksWhoAsk: Who wrote it, and why trust them?Where to look: About page, author bio, a searchWhenAsk: Is it recent enough for this topic?Where to look: Date at the top or in the citationEvidenceAsk: Where do the facts come from?Where to look: Citations, data, a methods sectionPurposeAsk: Is it informing, selling or arguing?Where to look: Ads, tone, who paid for itCross-checkAsk: Does an independent source agree?Where to look: Search the claim in a new tab
Checking a source from outside, in other tabs, catches more weak sources than reading the source itself more carefully.

Your own words first

Writing the key point in your own words before copying a quote is the simplest guard against accidental plagiarism. Anything copied word for word goes in quotation marks with its page, every time.

Citation style

This organizer keeps what every citation needs: author, title, year and where it was found. Your teacher’s style (MLA, APA or Chicago) decides the order and punctuation; the Purdue Online Writing Lab has the current rules for each.

Sources

  1. Wineburg, S., and McGrew, S. (2019). Lateral reading and the nature of expertise. Teachers College Record, 121(11).
  2. Blakeslee, S. (2004). The CRAAP test. LOEX Quarterly, 31(3).
  3. American Academy of Pediatrics (2014). School start times for adolescents. Pediatrics, 134(3), 642 to 649.
  4. Wheaton, A. G., Ferro, G. A., and Croft, J. B. (2015). School start times for middle school and high school students, United States, 2011 to 12 school year. MMWR, 64(30), 809 to 813.

The worked example is made up around two real publications; the blog post is invented. Your teacher’s source rules come first. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.