Types of Sources
 

TYPES OF SOURCES

Throughout the research process, as a writer you will need to find a variety of sources. The types of sources you will look for and use for your academic writing may consist of primary, secondary, and tertiary sources. With any research, finding a variety of multiple sources will provide solid information. 

​

• Academic Journals

  • Found through the high school, college, or public library's databases, such as JSTOR, Gale, etc.

  • Published​ weekly, quarterly, once a year and they contain cutting-edge research

  • Use peer review [meaning experts in the field assess the quality and credibility of an article or research before it is published.

  • Journal articles include a full bibliography and use scholarly or technical language

  • The article typically 

    • Is written by scholars, professors, experts in their field​

    • May contain abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, list of references

  • There are many kinds of academic journals​

    • Original: publish original data​

    • Theoretical: provide analysis or theory about the foundation of a particular field

    • Review: summarize current state of a particular field

​

• Books

  • Academic books written by experts, by a single author or several authors, that offer an extensive overview or analysis of a topic, even if it is only one chapter that can be accessed online or in print are considered trustworthy sources
     

• Websites

  • Reliable and credible sources on websites can often be found, but you have to be patient and look critically at the web URL address and the information. Often students are impatient and choose the first links that pop up on a random Google web search, which often is not a reliable search.

  • ​When evaluating sources online, use the CRAAP test listed above.

  • Look at the URL address:

    • .com is a commercial site selling products or organizations persuading you to see an issue from a particular perspective​​

    • .net is an internet provider, but now anyone can use it. If a favorite .com URL is taken, (mainstreet.com), then someone might purchase the mainstreet.net domain. It works just like a .com (used to make money)

    • .org is an organization and is non-profit, meaning it isn't being used to make money. Although it is typically "reliable for research," some organizations may be biased toward a specific agenda. Take a look at their "About US" tab or their "Mission Statement" tab to make sure the information supports your research query.

    • .edu is a website page from a college or university. Most edu websites contain information about a college. Analyze carefully for bias and inaccuracies. Also, you may find faculty and student blogs or websites, so look at the URL and if you see blog listed in the URL, it indicates that particular web page is someone's personal opinion.

    • .gov and .mil stands for government and military, which are both website pages from the military and generally are acceptable for academic research papers; however it is always wise to check if any vetting process has been imposed on any given information. As with any website, be sure to analyze them carefully for bias and inaccuracies. ​​​

• Newspapers​​​​

  • Newspapers can be useful sources serving as a primary source of information about historical and current events. They can also work as secondary sources to support background information.

  • As with all sources, newspapers need to be viewed with a critical eye, most newspapers, event those that are considered leaning politically left such as the New York Times or politically right such as The Wall Street Journal  will only provide political bias on their Op-Ed pages. However, check out such websites as FactCheck.org and PolitiFact to
    determine the reliability of an article. Also, Ad Fontes Media provides the latest version of a Media Bias Chart of websites/articles, TV/Video, Podcasts/Audio of the Media with information as to why it falls to the left, center, or right.