Types of Sources
In order to be successful you will need to know how to identify a peer-reviewed or "scholarly" source. These videos can help you learn the difference between the different types of sources, can help you identify the differences between primary and secondary research, and introduce you to the different types of data. This page also provides information on important questions to ask as you determine the quality of the sources you find.
This video will help explain the difference between popular (or non-scholarly) sources and scholarly sources.
Q: Are master's theses and doctoral dissertations considered scholarly sources?
A: Yes. They are peer-reviewed by committees of experts and are an example of peer-reviewed scholarly work.
Q: Are trade publications considered a scholarly source?
A: No. While they may be selected by their editors for their quality content, and many contain reliable information, they are not generally considered a scholarly source. They are not usually peer-reviewed and the purpose of their publication is to inform an industry, not to further the scholarly conversation.
Q: Are government reports considered a scholarly source?
A: No. Government reports contain valuable and useful information but they are individual pieces of information gathered to help policy-makers make a decision and are not peer-reviewed scholarship produced to further the study of a specific field. While government reports can form a piece of your reference list, you would need other scholarly articles to support the information.
Many scholarly journal articles are available online which can cause some confusion. Should you cite it as a journal article or as a web page? Journal articles and web pages have distinct characteristics. Both web pages and journal articles are often found by clicking a URL or link, but even when a journal article is accessed through web page, you would still cite it as a journal and not as a web page.
This video covers the difference between primary and secondary research, as well as explaining the differences between qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research.
Predatory journals are money-making scams that do not contribute to the scholarly conversation. They take advantage of authors by charging fees to publish, and they do not follow best practices for peer review.
Adapted from: Shameer, L., Moher, D., Maduekwe, O., Turner, L., Barbour, V., Burch, R., Clark, J. Galipeau, J., Roberts, J., & Shea, B.J. (2017). Potential predatory and legitimate biomedical journals: can you tell the difference? A cross-section comparison. BMC Medicine, 15(28). 10.1186/s12916-017-0785-9