A study-abroad source log should identify each source, show when and where it was consulted, and record the exact claim it supports. Florida Atlantic University Libraries specifically recommends recording the source’s title, author, and publication year. For a website, its checklist also includes the site’s publication date, the date visited, and the URL.
A practical source-log template
The following fields turn those basics into a decision-ready record:
| Field | What to record |
|---|---|
| Source identity | Full title, author, and publishing organisation when stated |
| Publication details | Publication year; website publication or update date using the label shown on the page |
| Source location | URL and the relevant heading, section, table, or document page |
| Access details | Date you visited or accessed the source |
| Supported claim | The statement, requirement, or comparison being checked, followed by a short relevant quotation when needed |
| Decision relevance | The application choice, question, or uncertainty this source helps address |
| Verification status | Whether you checked the claim against the source and any unresolved conflict or ambiguity |
| Follow-up | Questions that still require confirmation from another relevant source |
These additional fields are practical recommendations, not rules attributed to FAU Libraries.
How to check an entry
Open the original source rather than relying only on a search result or an AI-generated summary. Then:
- Check the source identity. Compare the title, author or publisher, and publication information with the page itself.
- Locate the claim. Find the relevant passage, table, footnote, or document page. Record its location so the entry can be checked again.
- Preserve the context. A statement about a programme, fee, deadline, or eligibility condition may include qualifiers that affect whether it applies to your situation.
- Use the date labels accurately. If a website identifies a date as an update date, do not silently treat it as the original publication date.
- Record missing information plainly. If the author, publication year, or another detail is not stated, mark it as not stated rather than guessing.
The access date is particularly useful for web research because it records when the page was consulted. If the page changes later, the log shows which version you originally reviewed.
Treat AI citations as leads, not evidence
The OpenAI Help Center warns that AI output may contain fabricated quotations, studies, citations, and references to sources that do not exist. An AI-generated citation therefore does not establish that a source supports a claim.
For every important AI-assisted finding, open the cited source and verify the quotation or wording directly. If the source cannot be found, the quotation cannot be located, or the page does not support the claim, mark the entry as unverified or remove it from the evidence record.
What you must still confirm yourself
Before relying on your research, personally confirm:
- whether the source is current and relevant to the exact programme, campus, course, location, or application route you are considering;
- whether any fee, deadline, requirement, or eligibility statement is stated in the relevant source without omitted qualifiers;
- whether several sources agree, and which source genuinely addresses your question if they conflict;
- whether an AI-generated summary or citation matches the underlying material; and
- what remains unresolved when the available sources are incomplete or ambiguous.
A source log does not make the final choice for you. It preserves the evidence so that you can keep the final assessment—and the decision—human-owned.