Academic books typically provide a comprehensive, thorough treatment of a subject. Some academic books synthesize all information on a topic to support a particular argument or thesis. Other types of academic books have an editor and each chapter has a different author. Use books when you need to gather a lot of information on a topic, contextualize your topic, find historical information, or find summaries of research to support an argument. Find physical academic books using OneSearch or ebooks using our Ebook Database.
Scholarly journals contain articles written by experts in an academic field. Journal articles can cover very specific topics or narrow fields of research. They usually include bibliographies. For most college-level research papers, you should rely heavily on scholarly articles. Use them to research your topic, learn what others have studied on your topic. You can find scholarly articles in the Library's databases.
There is a subset of scholarly journals called peer-reviewed journals. Peer-reviewed journals are the most authoritative scholarly journals. If you use articles from peer-reviewed journals, they have been vetted by scholars in the field for quality and importance. Watch this short video explaining peer-reviewed articles.
Magazines contain articles written for the general public with the purpose of informing and entertaining. Magazines are designed to be easy to read, which can make them a good starting point when first trying to understand a topic. They can also provide a contemporary point of view and information or opinions about popular culture or current events.
Newspapers contain articles about current events and are usually published daily. Use newspapers to find current information about international, national, and local events. Also, use them to identify trends in public opinion. Older issues of newspapers provide a record of past ideas, problems, and events. You can find newspapers on the open web or in the Library's newspaper database.
Primary sources are contemporary accounts of an event, written by someone who experienced or witnessed the event. For example, diaries, letters, speeches, and photographs can serve as primary sources. In the sciences, primary sources are documents about original research written by the original researchers themselves. Primary sources can also include raw data, an artifact from an archeological dig, or a newspaper article written soon after an event took place.
Use websites to find current information, company information, government information, and expert and popular opinions. Because internet sources have no quality standards, you should evaluate all information carefully to make sure it is reliable.
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