FTS: Reading and Writing Place: Source Types

People communicate in all kinds of different information packages. Here are some of the most common ones you will encounter: 

There are many, many other kinds of information packages, too, including the ones listed below. 

• Websites
• Audio & visual materials
• Conference papers (sometimes published as books, published online, or unpublished)
• Laws (statutes, court opinions, regulations) and other government documents (hearings, bills, reports)
• Press releases, reports, studies, FAQs, etc., produced by nonprofits and corporations
• Data sets
• Unpublished records, like journals, personal papers

Note that scholarly sources aren't necessarily intrinsically "better" than non-scholarly sources. It all depends on the type of sources you need for your research (including any conditions your professor has put on the type of source you're supposed to use) and which sources best help you make your argument. Librarians would love to consult with you about the types of sources you need and how best to gather them. 

And for help citing any source you find, use our Cite Your Sources guide.

Quite often you will be expected to use "scholarly" or "peer reviewed" or "academic" sources. Here's what that means: 

• The author is a scientist or scholar, not a journalist. The author usually has the highest degree in their field (like a Ph. D.) and works at a college or university. 
• The audience is other researchers, scientists, or scholar. The language is fairly complex and assumes prior knowledge of the topic.
• The source references the work of other researchers. Look for bibliographic notes, references, or works cited.  
• Scholarly sources are usually published by academic publishers (like Oxford University Press); articles appear in scholarly journals, often with titles like Journal of ....

Though many databases let you limit a search to scholarly or peer reviewed articles, those limiters aren't foolproof. As an example, they will include book reviews, which are not reporting original research. Take a look at "Anatomy of a Scholarly Article" from North Carolina State University Library.

Peer review means the source has been reviewed prior to publication (usually without the reviewers knowing who wrote the source and vice versa); reviewers will then recommend if the work should be published. Many - but not all - scholarly sources have been peer reviewed. To check if your scholarly article has been peer reviewed, you can visit the journal's website.

Here are tips on how to located various types of sources for your project - although the biggest tip is that if you hit any roadblocks, please ask a librarian for help.

• To find scholarly sources, like journal articles and academic books, use a library database or search our catalog.
  • Try some of the recommended databases on the Articles tab on this guide.
  • You can also search Google scholar for academic articles, too. Be aware that Google is set up to drive you to publishers' websites, where they might ask you to pay to access the article. Never pay for an article! The Library can get it for you for free. Use the Tracking Down Materials tab for more information.
  • Search the library catalog to find books. You can look at excerpts for many books - and in some cases, entire books - through Google Books. You'll also find some scholarly articles in the catalog, too.
• To find newspaper articles, use ProQuest US Newsstream to search current and back issues of most major US newspapers. Use Access World News for international papers. Both are listed under the Articles tab.
  • You can certainly Google to find newspapers but most papers have a strict paywall, meaning you'll need to pay to subscribe before you can access the papers. Instead, search the recommended databases to find the same content for free!
• To find magazine articles, start with Academic Search Premier (listed under the Articles tab). As with newspapers, you can use Google but you will also probably hit a paywall for most titles.
• To explore most other sources, ask yourself who might publish the kind of source you're looking for. Possibilities are endless, anything from nonprofits to companies to governments to professional associations to individuals.
  • The best place to start is Google. As you sort through results, pay attention to who wrote and published the source, the intended audience, the type of source, any claims it makes, etc. Be sure you are thinking critically about the source itself and how it may or may not inform your own understanding of the topic.
  • Contact a librarian for more ideas on how to access particular types of sources.