1. Search for the claim, not the topic
Typing the resolution into a search engine returns news summaries and opinion pieces, which are the weakest evidence in a round. Instead, decide what you need to prove and search for that. If your contention is that data centers raise residential electricity prices, search for "data center load growth residential rates study." Add words like "report," "analysis," "study," or "journal" to push results toward primary research. Search Google Scholar and your public library's databases; most public libraries provide free access to academic journals and major newspapers with a library card.
2. Judge the source before you read it
Ask four questions about anything you plan to cite:
- Who wrote it, and what qualifies them? A professor of energy economics, a government agency, or a reporter at an established outlet is a credential you can read aloud. An anonymous blog is not.
- Who paid for it? Industry-funded and advocacy-funded research can be accurate, but a judge is entitled to know. Find the funding statement.
- When was it published? On a fast-moving topic, a two-year-old source may describe a world that no longer exists.
- Is it primary? A news article summarizing a study is a step removed from the study. Find the study.
3. Read enough to know what it says
The most common evidence problem in high school debate is a card that says the opposite of the article it came from, because the debater quoted the sentence before the word "however." Read the abstract, the conclusion, and the full paragraph around any sentence you plan to quote. If the author qualifies the claim, your card must carry the qualification. A source that says a moratorium "could" reduce demand growth does not support a tag that says it "will."
4. Cut the card honestly
A card has three parts: a tag (your one-sentence claim), a citation (author, credential, publication, date, and link), and the quoted text. Rules that keep you honest and keep you winning:
- Never delete words from the middle of a quote without marking the omission, and never delete words that change the meaning.
- Keep the full paragraph in your file even if you only read two sentences, so you can show context when asked.
- Your tag should be a claim the author would agree with. If you would be embarrassed to show the author your tag, rewrite it.
- In Public Forum, paraphrasing is allowed, but the paraphrase must be accurate and you must be able to produce the original on request.
5. Organize so you can find it in thirty seconds
Keep one document per topic, split into sections by argument, with a table of contents at the top. Name each card by tag. During a round you will have three or four minutes of prep time in total; a file you cannot navigate is worth nothing. Coaches should keep a shared folder for the team so that a card one student cuts is available to all of them.
What CUDL provides
For each new Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum topic, CUDL publishes a primer with argument directions and evidence categories, and coaches at partner schools can request evidence packets for specific arguments. The packets are a starting point. The skill of finding and judging evidence is the thing that lasts, and it is the same skill a first-year college course will demand.
Free sources by topic area
- Federal policy and law: Congressional Research Service reports (crsreports.congress.gov), the Congressional Budget Office, the Government Accountability Office, and agency websites.
- Data: the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Energy Information Administration, and Our World in Data.
- Academic research: Google Scholar for anything; many public libraries provide free access to JSTOR and newspaper archives with a library card.
- Public opinion and society: the Pew Research Center.
- Philosophy and ethics: the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- Policy debate evidence: the Open Evidence Project, where summer institutes publish their files.
The full list with links is on our links page.
Evidence ethics
Three rules that every league, including the NSDA and the Tarheel Forensic League, enforces. Never change the words inside a quotation; use ellipses honestly and only for omitted words that do not change meaning. Never cite a source you have not read for the claim you attach to it. Never present a paraphrase as a quotation. Violations lose rounds and, at many tournaments, disqualify students. If you are unsure whether a card is fairly cut, show it to your coach before you read it.
A card-cutting drill
Take one article from a source above. In fifteen minutes, cut three cards from it: one that supports each side of a current resolution and one that neither side would want to read. Tag each card in one sentence. Then trade with a partner and check each other's cards against the original for accuracy. Do this weekly and cutting becomes fast and honest.
Get new guides and topic primers by email
One email when a new topic primer or guide is published, about twice a month during the season. No other mail.