Evaluate source credibility, choose the best evidence for a claim, and understand the difference between primary and secondary sources.
Which revision of the following sentence is most clear and concise? Original: 'Due to the fact that the weather outside was raining heavily, the outdoor recess activity period was cancelled by the principal who made the decision.'
ETS 5758 tests your ability to identify which sources are appropriate for academic and professional writing. Credible sources include: peer-reviewed journal articles, books published by academic presses, .edu and .gov websites, and expert testimony from qualified professionals. Non-credible sources include: personal blogs, social media posts, tabloid articles, anonymous websites, and opinion pieces without cited evidence. Questions describe a research scenario — a paraeducator writing a report, a student preparing a paper — and ask which source is most appropriate for that purpose.
Writing questions on ETS 5758 test three citation concepts: in-text citation (a parenthetical reference placed within the text, e.g., (Smith, 2021)), block quotation (a quotation of four or more lines, indented from the margin, no quotation marks), and paraphrasing (restating a source's idea in your own words with attribution). You are not required to know specific citation style rules (MLA vs APA) — you are tested on whether you know when each format is used and whether a citation is being used correctly vs incorrectly.