Types of Sources

If you’re lost on the road, you usually look at a map. When you’re lost inside a hospital, a directory would be a better choice. Different situations call for different solutions. Understanding the types of information available through your academic library will help you determine which search tools will best suit your needs.

Scholarly and Popular Sources

When writing a paper for a class, or conducting any type of research project, it is good to incorporate a variety of information sources and points of view. 

Scholarly sources or peer-reviewed articles are written by researchers or experts in the field in order to share research findings with other researchers and scholars.

• Pros: peer-reviewed, supported evidence, good for building an argument
• Cons: articles often contain jargon and are very lengthy to read. The research and peer-review process take time, and often privilege certain groups over others, leading to a lack of diversity Links to an external site. of scholars and researchers in academia 
• Examples include scholarly books, journal articles, encyclopedias, etc.

Popular sources are written by journalists, writers, and citizens aiming to provide news, summarize information or opinion for the general public, or share their lived experiences.

• Pros: good for gathering public/general opinion, content usually covers recent events and issues, good for background information on a topic, and are usually quick or easy to read
• Cons: more susceptible to misinformation, may not include citations, not all popular sources are appropriate to include as sources for academic research 
• Examples include news articles, magazine articles, blogs, Twitter or social media feeds, etc.

Watch this Scholarly vs Popular Sources Links to an external site. video to learn more!

Primary and Secondary Sources

Depending on your research topic, you may want to incorporate primary and secondary sources to represent a variety of perspectives, and how understanding of an event or issue has changed over time. 

Primary sources provide first-hand accounts of an event or experience and are often made by witnesses or first recorders of these events at the time they occurred (but not always). Examples of primary sources are diaries, letters, interviews, photographs, creative works, oral histories, news articles, reports, blog posts, Tweets, videos, etc.

Secondary sources are created later by people who did not experience the event first-hand, often scholars, journalists, or other professionals who analyze or interpret primary sources. Examples of secondary sources are books, magazine and journal articles, textbooks, biographies, encyclopedias, dictionaries, literature reviews, etc. 

Watch this Primary vs Secondary Sources Links to an external site.video to learn more!