Types of Sources Used in Research

Nancy McEnery, MLIS

Periodicals: Popular versus Scholarly

Scholarly JournalsPopular Magazines, Trade Journals,Tabloids

Think of your Doctor’s Office…

Journal of the American Medical Association

House and Garden, SunsetPeople Magazine

Popular Magazines

• Are written for a general broad audience.

• The information may or may not be written by an expert in the field.

• Articles are often by a staff writer and contain quotes & opinions of experts.

• Often contain well-considered writing.

Is this a good source for a research paper?

• When evaluating a source to use in a research paper, the degree of authority and the depth of research on a given topic determine if the source has academic value

Academic Journals… A better Choice?

• Scholarly sources contain articles written by experts in particular fields.

• Experts are recognized by their degrees, work affiliation, and research publications.

• Subject-specific.

• Critically evaluated by peers (fellow scholars) for content, scholarly soundness & academic value.

Examples

• JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association

• School Library Journal

• Modern Fiction Studies

• American Anthropologist

Chart

Use this handout to help you to identify additional features to distinguish between popular and scholarly sources.

• Purpose Publication

• Topics Appearance

• Author Language

• Audience

• Format

Research Using Primary & Secondary Sources in the

Humanities and the Sciences

Lewis & Clark Journals, 1804-06. American Journal of Nursing

What is a Primary Source?

• An original record created during it’s time period that does not contain any outside interpretation.

Example: Research for History Papers

Using Primary

and Secondary Sources

to Study World War I

Primary Sources

• Documents that give a rich sense of life in the time period, as told by it’s participants

• Diaries• Letters• Photographs• First-hand accounts• Sound recordings

Primary Sources: Photos

Primary sources: Photos

Convalescent Hospital #2 at Agay, France, 1918.

Primary Sources: Diaries

The Personal Diary of Bill Schira

March 4, 1918 to July 6, 1919

Primary Sources: Letters

.

Primary Sources: Maps

What are Secondary Sources?

• An analysis, interpretation, or evaluation of primary source information, usually written after the event.

Bibliographic or Secondary Sources

• What other’s have written about a topic

• books• articles from

magazines & scholarly journals.

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More Secondary Sources

How do historians research?

• They tend to do more solitary research.

• They read books.• They get direction

from citations in their reading.

• They use primary sources and back them up with secondary sources.

Consider as you do history research

• Use both primary and secondary sources

How do Scientists Research?

• Go to seminars & professional meetings and talk with other scientists.

• Do their own experiments.

• They subscribe to journals in their field of study.

How do Scientists Research?

• Scientists are concerned with the results of other’s research.

• They go to peer-reviewed journals like Nature to read original research results.

“But not every article in Nature or Science Journal will be original research!

A Word of Caution:

• Not every article in the journals will be research articles. Some will include book reviews and other materials that are more obviously secondary sources.

• (Remember: a secondary source is something written about a primary source. Secondary sources include comments on, interpretations of, or discussions about the original material).

• Review articles are more difficult to differentiate from original articles. They are not primary sources because they “review” previously published materials.

In the Sciences,

• Primary literature refers to the first place a scientist publishes the results of scientific investigations.

• This Week in JAMA This Week in JAMA

• JAMA. 2009;301(12):1201.

• FULL TEXT | PDF Original Contributions Collaborative Care for Chronic Pain in Primary Care: A Cluster Randomized TrialSteven K. Dobscha; Kathryn Corson; Nancy A. Perrin; Ginger C. Hanson; Ruth Q. Leibowitz; Melanie N. Doak; Kathryn C. Dickinson; Mark D. Sullivan; Martha S. GerrityJAMA. 2009;301(12):1242-1252.

• ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT | PDF | JAMA REPORT VIDEO Clinical Outcome and Phenotypic Expression in LAMP2 CardiomyopathyBarry J. Maron; William C. Roberts; Michael Arad; Tammy S. Haas; Paolo Spirito; Gregory B. Wright; Adrian K. Almquist; Jeanne M. Baffa; J. Philip Saul; Carolyn Y. Ho; Jonathan Seidman; Christine E. SeidmanJAMA. 2009;301(12):1253-1259.

• ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT | PDF Caring for the Critically Ill Patient Chlorhexidine-Impregnated Sponges and Less Frequent Dressing Changes for Prevention of Catheter-Related Infections in Critically Ill Adults: A Randomized Controlled TrialJean-François Timsit; Carole Schwebel; Lila Bouadma; Arnaud Geffroy; Maïté Garrouste-Orgeas; Sebastian Pease; Marie-Christine Herault; Hakim Haouache; Silvia Calvino-Gunther; Brieuc Gestin; Laurence Armand-Lefevre; Véronique Leflon; Chantal Chaplain; Adel Benali; Adrien Francais; Christophe Adrie; Jean-Ralph Zahar; Marie Thuong; Xavier Arrault; Jacques Croize; Jean-Christophe Lucet; for the Dressing Study GroupJAMA. 2009;301(12):1231-1241.

How can you tell if it’s original research (or a primary source?)

Primary research articles use a common format:

• Look for a methods section (sometimes called materials & methods).

• Look for results (usually followed with charts & statistical tables).

• Look for a discussion section.• Look for language like “we tested”, “in our

study” or “we measured.” This tells you the article is reporting original research.

Where the Confusion Begins…

• The distinction between types of sources can get tricky because a secondary source may also be a primary source.

• Gary Wills’ book about Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address can be looked at as both a secondary and a primary source. The distinction may depend upon how you are using the source and the nature of your research.

Primary or Secondary?

• If you are researching about Abraham Lincoln, the book would be a secondary source because Wills’ is offering his opinions about Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address.

• If you are researching the Gettysburg Address, this original primary source document is contained in Wills’ book.

Primary or Secondary?

• Primary literature refers to the first place a scientist publishes the results of scientific investigations.

In the case of a

scientific journal,

the author may

have first published

their original researchIn the Journal of Zoology

If the article isrepublished in Nature, it is no longer a primary source.

The End