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. 

Different Types of Sources

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

 

 Test Your Knowledge: Identify the Source

 

 

References

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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