Information can come from anywhere: social media, blogs, books, academic journal articles, magazine or newspaper articles, and more. The type of information source you use will depend on your research question and your professor’s requirements. There are three main types of sources: popular, scholarly, and professional.
In the sciences and academia, scholarly sources are commonly used to share original research. You likely will use scholarly sources in research-based assignments while at LCCC.
Hu, Y., Lu, J., & Young, G. C. (2017). New findings in a 400 million-year-old Devonian placoderm shed light on jaw structure and function in basal gnathostomes. Scientific Reports 7, 1-12. http://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-07674-y
Popular sources provide general information or entertainment. They include the types of information you see everyday, like magazine or newspaper articles.
Cummings, S. (2024). This ancient fish has stumped scientists for centuries. Science News, 206(5), 32.
Professional sources are the least common type of source. They typically report on industry trends or techniques useful to a particular trade or business.
Physics Today published by the American Institute of Physics
The articles themselves often include the following sections- but not always! The names may change based on the journal and/or the discipline you are researching in. In the sciences, for example, you will likely find a Methods and Results section. In the humanities, scholarly research might look more like analyzing a poem through a specific critical theory, and it will read more like a long discussion using poem quotes as the evidence.
Peer-reviewed articles have gone through a process where other researchers/experts in the same field of study reviewed the article before it was published. The reviewers look at things like how well the study was designed and implemented, how clearly the authors present their data, if the conclusions are supported by the evidence, and more. This is meant to increase the trust in published research. It's not always perfect, but it's the "gold standard" of publishing articles in many disciplines.
The process usually takes at least 3 months, sometimes a year or more, depending on the journal's publication cycle, the speed of the reviewers, and the number of revisions required before publication. Here's what the process looks like:
In library databases, use a "peer-reviewed" or "refereed" filter during your search. In some databases, you can click on the journal name and it will say if it's peer reviewed or not.
If you're not sure about a publication, search the internet for the publication name. Often, Wikipedia will have the answer! You can also look at the journal's home page or in the "About" section to see. If they use peer review, they'll tell you about it.
Caution: Not every article in a peer-reviewed journal is actually peer reviewed. Things like editorials, commentaries, book reviews, updates, etc. do not usually go through the peer review process.
Still unsure? Ask a librarian!
This can be overwhelming and leave you without a clear idea of what the article is about. Instead:
Start by reading the abstract (the brief summary of the article) to make sure the article is relevant to your topic. Then skim the introduction before skipping to the results and/or discussion section. Don't worry about understanding everything you read at this point.
If, based on your skim, the article still seems relevant, now take the time to read through the whole article.
Look up words and concepts you aren't familiar with as you read. Start familiarizing yourself with some of the topic's background and vocabulary.
As you go, jot down notes that help you understand what the article is driving at. Try highlighting quotes or sections that have bearing on your topic.
After you finish reading through the article, write a quick summary or reflection while the article is still fresh on your mind.
Think about how the article relates to your overarching topic. Does it add something new to your discussion? Will it help you show a new angle to your topic? Consider how the article ties in with the other sources you have read.
The questions below can help you understand a scholarly article as well as evaluate it (something we'll visit shortly). Consider using this or something like it to guide your reading. This is available as a handout on the next page!
Even with thorough publication processes like peer review, humans will make errors. If anything seems suspicious as you're reading a scholarly article, check in with your instructor, a librarian, or even a website like Retraction Watch (linked below). They post retracted (or "recalled") articles that journals should not have been published in the first place, for various reasons.
One strategy is to write down a quick summary of your understanding of the article right after you read it. This could be on a sticky note or in an email draft or a Word document, depending on what works best for you. Try writing down, in your own words:
This might look something like:
[Researchers] studied [topic] by [method] and found that [results]. Limitations included [limitations of study]. The authors suggest future research on [questions raised].
Example:
Dwyer et. al studied how college students' perceive pizza delivery. They surveyed local pizzerias to determine the amount of pizza delivered to a large public university in the United States over an entire academic year and found that most of the orders were large (for campus events), indicating a decline in student excitement about pizza. Dwyer et. al did not gain any data directly from students, which is recommended for further research.
You might also want to include:
These notes are sometimes called "synthesis notes." You can repeat this process with each source, and even build out an "annotated bibliography" if that works for you.
