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Because I’ve been receiving a lot of last-minute requests for help on the IS 6100 Paper 3 assignment, Gmail popped up a paid link about how to write a white paper. It’s a good post to read, because IS students often find and read white papers as they do their assignments. I’ve seen IS 7010 students reference white papers in their case analysis assignments, too.

Of course, the IS 6100 Paper 3 assignment was not writing a white paper. That assignment does require some outside research, however. As I mentioned for my IS 6100 students on April 3, there are many good sources that could be used for business and academic research. I’ve listed some in the “Finding references” link on the top menu of this site.

White papers, at least in information systems practice, have limited utility, as many IS and IT white papers are written to convince a potential client or customer to consider a particular vendor’s solution. In some white papers, there’s no real attempt to provide a literature review of reliable sources. I’ve read IS and IT white papers that read like the unexpurgated long version of a print advertisement.

Any white paper that’s cited as a source in a student paper needs some critical analysis. Don’t just take the vendor’s word that their service, product or solution is “the best”. Look at some reliable references, too.