Corporate search engines like Google and databases such as those provided by Kennedy Library will, to varying degrees, return results that reflect the dominant whiteness and hetero-centricity of American and western culture. This problem can appear in the articles and images themselves, in skewed rankings from biased algorithms (formulas that decide the relevance of results) and in outdated or offensive keyword filters or subject terminology.
Primary sources (think "first-hand") were either created during the time period being studied or were created at a later date by a participant in the events being studied (such as a memoir or oral history). They can also include writing or data based on direct scientific observation. They reflect the individual viewpoint of a participant or observer. Primary sources enable the researcher to get as close as possible to what actually happened during an historical event, including experiments or products of direct creative activity (such as a painting, sculpture, building, etc).
Secondary sources (think "second-hand") interpret or analyze historical events, styles, movements or phenomenon--including other primary and secondary sources. They are generally at least one step removed from the events discussed. Examples include scholarly or popular books and articles, reference books, and textbooks.
You decide! Judge if information is credible and make an informed decision about the appropriate use of a source for your research. See the tab "Infographic version" for more criteria.
Download the PDF worksheet:
When exploring a topic and formulating a research question it is important to consult different types of sources as well as points of view. Use this page to be able to identify types of information sources and distinguish between scholarly and popular sources. Your professor may also require a minimum number of sources and types (e.g. peer-reviewed journal articles) that you need to use in your research assignment.
Popular Periodicals
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Substantive News Periodicals (magazines and newspapers) |
Trade Publications |
Scholarly Journals (also called academic, peer reviewed, or refereed journals) |
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Entertainment | Information about current events and issues | Information about current trends and news in professional, business, and industry areas | Original research and findings (research articles), reviews of research (review articles), and reviews of scholarly books (book reviews) |
Authors: | Staff writers, journalists, or freelancers | Staff writers, journalists, or freelancers | Staff writers, journalists, or freelancers. Sometimes a journalist with subject area expertise. | Experts in their field: researchers, practitioners, professors and scholars |
Audience: | General public | General public | Practitioners in a field | Scholars (professors, researchers, students) knowledgeable about a specific discipline |
Level of Review: | Editors working for the publication review the articles; these editors are most likely not experts on the topic of the article they are editing. | Editors working for the publication review the articles; these editors are most likely not experts on the topic of the article they are editing. | Editors working for the trade publication review the articles; these editors are more likely to know about the topic than a magazine or newspaper editor would, but they still are not experts on it. | An editorial board made up of other scholars and researchers review the articles. Many, but not all, scholarly articles are peer reviewed. Peer reviewed articles are considered the gold standard of tested information. |
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The goal of Peer Review is to assess the quality of articles submitted for publication in a scholarly journal.
BE AWARE: Not everything published in a scholarly journal is a Peer Reviewed Article! When limiting to "peer-reviewed" the databases are going by the type of journal, and not distinguishing the variety of content in the journal, which typically also contains editorials and book reviews, which are not peer-reviewed.
The peer-review and publication process often takes well over one year, so it might be hard to find a peer-reviewed article for a currently emerging topic.
If you are still unsure if it is a peer-reviewed journal, Google the journal's homepage.
Scholarly articles are written by scholars for an audience of other scholars. They thus assume prior knowledge of the subject, which you likely do not have. Scholarly articles are also written with a language and tone that is, shall we say, the opposite of reading for enjoyment. But it's going to be okay! There are time-saving strategies to read and comprehend scholarly material. For example, you don't initially read a scholarly article or book from beginning to end; instead, you read certain sections first to understand the main arguments and results. Watch the video below to learn more.
How to Read and Comprehend Scientific Research Articles by University of Minnesota Libraries.
Purpose: Inform the scientific/engineering world about a new technology faster than a peer-reviewed or journal article could.
Authorship: Written by the experts in the field that did the research.
Accuracy: Organized by an editorial team. The amount of scrutiny applied to these proceedings varies with the conference; some are read and either accepted or rejected right then, while others go through more vigorous scrutiny via peer-review or some other system before they are released. Editors are allowed to make changes in papers without the permission of the author, although it is not common for them to do so.
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