Honors 100 Lusty, Dr. Heather: Types of Sources

Encyclopedias, Wikipedia articles, and general Google searches are good places to begin your research to get an overview of your topic and the big questions associated with that topic. But you should not use these as your main sources for an academic essay simply because they are too general. Instead, use these sources to develop context for your topic—to learn the background of the topic, major ideas and subtopics, and important researchers in the field, for example. You can usually find overview sources through general Google searches. Be careful, though, when doing general Google searches. You may find websites that are not credible because they are not written by people knowledgeable in the field, or because they are slanted and present only one side of an issue.

General interest magazines (Time, Newsweek online) or online general news sites (CNN, MSNBC) can be used as overview materials, but also may provide more in-depth coverage of a topic for the general public. For example, an article on the melting of the polar icecaps in Time magazine may offer overview of the issue, while an article on polar icecaps in Scientific American or The Ecologist, while still written for a general reading audience, may go into more depth. “Credible” is the important characteristic here. Sources written for a general reading audience can be used if they offer well-researched and objectively-presented information about an issue, person, or event. Credible non-academic sources may offer more up-to-date information or initial research on events or trends not yet analyzed in academic literature, as well as point you to more specialized sources. You usually can find credible, non-academic sources if you do Google Scholar searches or look at other valid sources such as government websites (e.g., for polar icecaps, you might look at the website for the National Resources Defense Council/NRDC or reports found at the website for the National Snow and Ice Data Center/NSIDC). You can also look in article databases to find credible, non-academic sources.

Scholarly or specialized sources are written for readers with some background in the particular topic. For example, someone with a background in science should be able to easily read and understand the articles published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences or the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences. However, even if you are not a specialist in the field, your initial reading of overview material and information from credible sources written for the general public should enable you to use some specialized material. Scholarly articles are the result of rigorous research and analysis. They usually provide strong, researched, logical evidence for claims. Scholars write articles about what they’ve done in their research, what they’ve found, and why they think it’s important, to join the academic conversation around a specific topic. To be published, scholarly articles and books have to be peer-reviewed, which means that other known scholars in the field have to evaluate and recommend those articles for publication. You usually can find scholarly articles from databases that draw from academic publications.

To determine if a source is scholarly, look for the following characteristics:

• Structure: The full text article often begins with an abstract or summary containing the main points of the article. It may also be broken down into sections such as “Methods,” “Results,” and “Discussion.”
• Authors: Authors’ names are listed with credentials/degrees and places of employment, which are often universities or research institutions. The authors are experts in the field.
• Audience: The article uses advanced vocabulary or specialized language intended for other scholars in the field, not necessarily for the average reader.
• Length: Scholarly articles are often, but not always, longer than the popular articles found in general interest magazines such as Time, Newsweek, National Geographic, etc. Articles are longer because it takes more content to explore topics in depth.
• Bibliography or Reference List: Scholarly articles include parenthetical in-text citations referring to items in a bibliography or reference list. A list of sources at the end is important so others can find the original source of an idea or quotation.

 
Scholarly Publications / Articles (Journals)
A scholarly publication contains articles written by experts in a particular field. The primary audience of these articles is other experts. These articles generally report on original research or case studies. Many of these publications are “peer reviewed” or “refereed.” This means that scholars in the same field review the research and findings before the article is published. Articles in scholarly publications, in most cases:

• are written by and for faculty, researchers, or other experts in a field
• use scholarly or technical language
• include a full bibliography of sources cited in the article
• are often peer reviewed (refereed)

To see the typical components of a scholarly journal article, check out the Anatomy of a Scholarly Article page from North Carolina State University Libraries HERE!
 
Popular Sources (News Articles and Magazines)
There are many occasions on which reading articles from popular sources can help to introduce you to a topic and introduce you to how that topic is being discussed in society. Articles in popular sources, in most cases:

• are written by journalists or professional writers for a general audience
• written in a language that is easy to understand by the general public
• rarely have a bibliography – rather, they are fact-checked through the editorial process of the publication they appear in
• don’t assume prior knowledge of a subject area – for this reason, they are often very helpful to read if you don’t know a lot about your subject area yet
• may contain an argument, opinion, or analysis of an issue

 
Professional/Trade Sources
Trade publications are generally for practitioners. They are focused on a specific field but are not intended to be “scholarly.” Rather, they communicated the news and trends in that field. Articles in trade publications, in most cases:

• are written by practitioners in a field (nurses, teachers, social workers, etc.)
• use the language (and jargon) of the field

 
Books / Book Chapters
Many academic books will be edited by an expert or group of experts. Often, books are a good source for a thorough investigation of a topic. Unlike a scholarly article, which will usually focus on the results of one research project, a book is likely to include an overview of research or issues related to its topic.  
 
Conference Proceedings
Conference proceedings are compilations of papers, research, and information presented at conferences. Proceedings are sometimes peer-reviewed and are often the first publication of research that later appears in a scholarly publication (see above!). Proceedings are more commonly encountered (via databases and other searching) in science and engineering fields than in the arts and humanities.  
 
Government Documents
The Government Printing Office disseminates information issued by all three branches of the government to federal depository libraries. Additionally, the many departments of the government publish reports, data, statistics, white papers, consumer information, transcripts of hearings, and more. Some of the information published by government offices is technical and scientific. Other information is meant for the general public.
 
Theses & Dissertations
Theses and dissertations are the result of an individual student’s research while in a graduate program. They are written under the guidance and review of an academic committee but are not considered “peer-reviewed” or “refereed” publications. 
 

Digital and Electronic Sources
Multimedia: Printed material is certainly not the only option for finding research. You might also consider using sources such as radio and television broadcasts, interactive talks, and recorded public meetings. Though we often go online to find this sort of information today, libraries and archives offer a wealth of nondigitized media or media that is not available online. 
Websites: Most of the information on the Internet is distributed via websites. Websites vary widely in terms of the quality of information they offer. For more information, visit the OWL’s page on evaluating digital sources.
Blogs and personal websites: Blogs and personal sites vary widely in their validity as sources for serious research. For example, many prestigious journalists and public figures may have blogs, which may be more credible than most amateur or personal blogs. Note, however, that there are very few standards for impartiality or accuracy when it comes to what can be published on personal sites.
Social media pages and message boards: These types of sources exist for all kinds of disciplines, both in and outside of the university. Some may be useful, depending on the topic you are studying, but, just like personal websites, the information found on social media or message boards is not always credible.
Press Releases and Advertising: Companies and special interest groups produce texts to help persuade readers to act in some way or inform the public about some new development. While the information they provide can be accurate, approach them with caution, as these texts' publishers may have vested interests in highlighting particular facts or viewpoints.
Flyers, Pamphlets, Leaflets: While some flyers or pamphlets are created by reputable sources, because of the ease with which they can be created, many less-than-reputable sources also produce these. Pamphlets and leaflets can be useful for quick reference or very general information, but beware of pamphlets that spread propaganda or misleading information.
 

Sources of information or evidence are often categorized as primary, secondary, or tertiary material. These classifications are based on the originality of the material and the proximity of the source or origin. This informs the reader as to whether the author is reporting information that is first-hand or is conveying the experiences and opinions of others, which is considered second hand. Determining if a source is primary, secondary, or tertiary can be tricky. Below you will find a description of the three categories of information and examples to help you make a determination.
Primary Sources
These sources are records of events or evidence as they are first described or actually happened without any interpretation or commentary. It is information that is shown for the first time or original materials on which other research is based. Primary sources display original thinking, report on new discoveries, or share fresh information.

Examples of primary sources: 
Theses, dissertations, scholarly journal articles (research based), some government reports, symposia and conference proceedings, original artwork, poems, photographs, speeches, letters, memos, personal narratives, diaries, interviews, autobiographies, and correspondence.

Secondary Sources
These sources offer an analysis or restatement of primary sources. They often try to describe or explain primary sources. They tend to be works which summarize, interpret, reorganize, or otherwise provide an added value to a primary source.

Examples of Secondary Sources: 
Textbooks, edited works, books, and articles that interpret or review research works, histories, biographies, literary criticism and interpretation, reviews of law and legislation, political analyses, and commentaries.

Tertiary Sources
These are sources that index, abstract, organize, compile, or digest other sources. Some reference materials and textbooks are considered tertiary sources when their chief purpose is to list, summarize or simply repackage ideas or other information. Tertiary sources are usually not credited to a particular author.

Examples of Tertiary Sources: 
Dictionaries/encyclopedias (may also be secondary), almanacs, fact books, Wikipedia, bibliographies (may also be secondary), directories, guidebooks, manuals, handbooks, and textbooks (may be secondary), indexing and abstracting sources.

** For an overview of synthesizing sources, see Purdue OWL’s page HERE
** For an overview of evaluating sources, see Benedictine Library’s page HERE
 

Lumen Learning. “Types of Sources,” in College Reading and Writing. Available at: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-esc-introtocollegereadingandwriting/chapter/finding-sources/

New Mexico State University Library. Understanding and Evaluating Sources. Available at: https://nmsu.libguides.com/sources/types 

Purdue Online Writing Lab. Types of Sources. Available at: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/conducting_research/research_overview/sources.html