A MOST backgrounder is a well researched and referenced collection of facts related to a specific topic. They are given in bullet point form with a full reference (or more) so they can be used in many publications. Normally the backgrounder is assigned as a list of factual questions and then the researcher looks for sources for those questions.

Hierarchy of sources[edit | edit source]

All sources are not the same and just because it is in a book or on the web does not make it true or trustworthy. Sources preferred as answers are in the following order of preference

  1. Peer reviewed journal articles - get from https://scholar.google.com/
  2. Government reports
  3. News stories
  4. NPO reports
  5. patents
  6. the web

Format for web reference[edit | edit source]

Author Surname, Author Initial. (Year Published). Title. [online] Available at: http://web.archive.org/web/20180811212301/http://www3.website/ URL [Accessed Date Accessed].

You can export Harvard style references from Google Scholar and from Zotero.

Example[edit | edit source]

Question: How much PV is expected to be installed in the US in 2016?

Note the answer is in an incomplete sentence with a properly formatted reference after the data. Harvard Reference style preferred with a direct hyperlink to the data.
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