When it comes to finding resources to inform your research, there are many different kinds of sources or documents that you may choose to use depending on your topic and assignment.
Each type of source listed below has different content, written by people with varying levels of expertise, and written for various audiences. And each type of source will have a different value for you, depending on the context. Sometimes you will be asked to use only scholarly, academic sources (journal articles & books) that have to undergo a lengthy editorial process and therefore take longer to publish. Other times you will be able to use less formal, popular sources of information (websites, newspapers and magazines) that may be more timely. 1 The differences between scholarly and popular sources will be explained further in a later section.
Source |
Description |
---|---|
Social media post, blog |
Real-time, opinion, commentary, general audience; not considered a scholarly source |
Website |
Possible commercial purposes, may be based on opinion and meant for a general audience OR may be a more scholarly, research based resource |
Encyclopedia |
Overview, background information, general audience |
Newspaper |
Up-to-date current events, editorial opinion, commentary, general audience |
Magazine |
Current events, topics of interest to general audience |
Government, NGO |
Reports, standards, statistics, more targeted audience |
Scholarly article |
New research by scholars for other scholars, expert audience |
Scholarly book |
In-depth coverage of a topic by expert/experts, targeted audience |
References
1 Brinkerhoff, C. (2019, August 1). Doing research: A students guide to finding and using the best sources. Kwantlen Polytechnic University Catalogue. Retrieved August 20, 2020, from https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/doingresearch/
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