Hanna: I'm thinking these should live on the Research Process guide. What id there were some hyperlinks to examples? That may be a good way to amp up the chart, but I like how simplistic it is- no fluff and easy to read.
Hanna: Primary would also be primary data gathering or and primary research studies. I also like the idea of linking examples... thoughts?
Scholarly Articles |
Popular Articles |
|
|---|---|---|
Examples: |
Nature, Journal of Psychology, Foreign Policy, Journal of ... | New York Times, Time Magazine, CBS, NPR, Buzzfeed |
Authorship: |
Written by experts in the field of study. | Mostly written by journalists and professional writers. |
Citations: |
Has lots of citations within the article. | Never has citations. |
Audience: |
Written for people studying/researching an area. | Written for the general public. |
Publication time: |
Very slow. It can take years to be published. |
Very fast. Within a day or even hours. |
Purpose: |
A tool to facilitate communication between scholars in a field of study. | Entertain or to inform the reader of current events. |
Review process: |
Often peer-reviewed. |
Editorially reviewed. |
There are essentially three types of sources we use in college: Primary, secondary, and tertiary. Although we use each of these different types of sources very differently, they all play a specific role in our academic writing. Here are some quick definitions of each source type.
Primary: these sources are first-hand accounts of an event or person.
Secondary: these sources are created by someone who was not present at an event.
Tertiary: these sources provide a very broad overview of a topic.
The tabs to the right will go in-depth on defining, identifying source types, and some examples.
Primary sources are the first-hand account of an event. They could also be defined as an originally created item at the time of the an event.
Diary, artwork, court and government documents, photos, audio and video recordings, correspondence, letters, Tweets, data, maps, autobiographies, and newspapers are just some examples of the things that can be primary sources.
A key component of analyzing primary sources is figuring out from whom or what perspective the item is portraying. For example, medical records are not from the perspective of the patient but from medical professionals treating and diagnosing the patient. A court's decision on a case is not from the perspective of the plaintiff or defendant but from the judge.
The context in which you use an item in your research will be key to determining if it is primary or secondary. For example, a novel is not a primary source as it is fictional. However, if you are studying the rhetoric of the author, that novel will become a primary source when evaluating the author's writing style.
Secondary sources are created by people without first-hand experience in the events or conditions being written about.
Scholarly articles, newspaper articles, documentaries, books, biographies, literature reviews, textbooks, and criticisms are examples of secondary sources.
The purpose of a secondary source is to contextualize how the primary source(s) fit into the larger body of writing on the subject. You as the writer may want to make arguments, share newly discovered information, or connect previously unrelated ideas/concepts together.
We use secondary sources as a way to bolster our writing. Citing other works that are on your topic, lets your reader know that you have considered other viewpoints and/or are building upon those ideas.
Tertiary sources are items that provide a very broad overview of a topic, idea, or concept.
Encyclopedias, Wikipedia, dictionaries, handbooks, and guidebooks are some examples of tertiary sources.
Tertiary sources are a great place to start your research process. If you have to write a paper on a topic you don't know much about, starting with the encyclopedia entry for it would be a great place to start. This will provide you a very broad understanding of what the topic is and consists of.
Generally, we do not cite tertiary sources in our academic writing because they are so broad. Since they provide you a broad overview of a topic, you may want to use the tertiary source to create a keyword bank to use in the library databases. Further, tertiary sources will provide you with the many subtopics within a larger topic to help you narrow down the scope of your paper.