Op-eds are opinions

But they offer an avenue to knowledge

To write a good op-ed is to amply cite sources and bolster claims with evidence. This sort of guidance is often given by opinion outlets. But does a piece of writing read like an opinion if every claim is backed up with some piece of evidence? Or does it read like an authority on the given topic or issue?

If I were to write a factual piece about public policy and I stated, "54 percent of Americans support XYZ policy," as a matter of transparency, I would link to the source of that statistic. That way, my readers can examine the data and results of the original study themselves. Similarly, if I were to write an article criticizing some piece of legislation, I would link to the official legislative document so that my reader can see for his or herself what I aim to criticize, and then agree or disagree with my position.

But what if the central thesis of my writing is something like "the purpose of public schools is to prepare students for self-governance" (a piece I am currently writing). What sources should I cite or what evidence should I call upon to support my case? In such a piece of writing, I could name or link to articles by all of the people who agree with me, or I could cite evidence from a swath of research studies that have come to the same conclusion I have. If I recount such studies, does my piece of writing still read like an opinion or my position on the issue? Or does it read as if I have the final authority on the matter? In other words, does citing sources, of studies I did not conduct, give the illusion that what I have expressed is fact, or the truth, not an opinion?

Sometimes opinions are formed by just being an observer of the world, not because one has read widely on a topic then decided to write about it, synthesizing what was learned. I can give you my opinion about how schools ought to be run because I have worked in them and because I have spoken with many teachers and school leaders about the issue, but I might not be able to provide link-able pieces of evidence for how I came to my conclusions. Now, if I read widely on the topic and tested out my hypothesis, then I have gone beyond providing my opinion to establishing knowledge. At that point, I can give you reasons for why my way of running a school is the better one.

Socrates, in Plato's Meno, calls this tying down an opinion—opinions become knowledge when reasons are given for the opinion: 

"For true opinions, as long as they remain, are a fine thing and all they do is good, but they are not willing to remain long, and they escape from a man's mind, so that they are not worth much until one ties them down by (giving) an account of the reason why. [...] After they are tied down, in the first place they become knowledge, and then they remain in place. That is why knowledge is prized higher than correct opinion, and knowledge differs from correct opinion in being tied down."

Op-eds are confusing because in some cases they present knowledge—e.g., a scholar has conducted research and wishes to share his or her findings with the public—and in other cases they present an opinion—e.g., a writer wants to share a personal story or observation. If both types of op-eds required sources to be cited to get published, both will read like knowledge because reasons have been given for their claims. Certainly, one can say that a personal story can also be knowledge if the writer can give reasons for why they think or feel the way they do about their experience. But the two types of op-eds are not the same.

In another of Plato's Dialogues, Theaetetus, Socrates and Theaetetus decide that knowledge is "correct judgment accompanied by knowledge of the differentness" between one account of what is being studied or observed versus another account. What if a personal opinion is not correct judgment? It seems we cannot call it knowledge, or the final authority, until weighing other possibilities. 

Platonic Dialogues, like Meno and Theaetetus, show one method to pin down an opinion so that it can be considered knowledge: there are at least two people trying to resolve a question. Pinning down an opinion can also be achieved by reading multiple texts or listening to multiple accounts about the same phenomenon.

Any given op-ed, including this one, ought to be read and shared as one take on an issue, even if the text links to multiple sources, not automatically assumed to be knowledge. The citations should be understood as further reading to understand the authors opinion not as evidence that the author has the final authority on the matter. This was the misstep of Matthew Hawn when he essentially asserted that Ta-Nehisi Coates was the final authority on an issue. Pursuing what is true requires multiple sources.