Here are are few characteristics of good scholarly or academic sources. This means that while one scholar or a group of scholars did the research, wrote the source, etc. A bibliography is the evidence for the research performed, credit where credit is due, and a resource for further study.
In fact, we are going to use them below to find good sources, too. They are not written for popular consumption. So, a magazine article you find in the grocery store, or a blog post, typically will not be a scholarly source. There are exceptions, because there are magazines and blogs written for academics too, but typically these formats are not going to work as well for your research.
These are written for an academic audience, but they are a summary or commentary on the research rather than the research itself. When you see one of these that looks interesting, drill down and use the original source rather than the abstract or review. These are written for an academic audience, but they are tertiary sources research about research , and they are generally written as an overview rather than for research purposes.
These are another good place to find scholarly sources, but you will want to read the article or chapter for a general overview and then look at the bibliography to find sources to use.
This caution is more for the general overview type encyclopedias. If in doubt, check with your professor. Aside from the items noted above, there are a few things that are generally not considered scholarly sources except in certain contexts: fiction, Scripture, and popular media not intended for a scholarly audience.
If you are writing a research paper about Jane Austen, her books would be primary source material. The same would apply if you are writing a paper about a biblical topic. Look out for a future post on good academic sources for religion classes! It depends. Different disciplines history, religious studies, theology, geography, sociology, political science often touch on the same subject, but they ask different types of questions.
If you are writing a paper for an interdisciplinary class, you can look for sources from a variety of disciplines, but some fields look specifically for scholarly sources from their own field. History papers, for example, should typically cite historians but not necessarily sociologists or political scientists. Librarians are scientists trained to track down critical research materials.
Go librarians! Where to Find Good Scholarly Sources:. When you are discussing your research paper proposal with your professor, ask if they have anything they would recommend. Librarians actually go to school to study research! They are a great resource, not just for finding things inside your library, but sources at other libraries, etc. This is where you will probably find most of the good sources for a research paper. Articles are shorter and easier to digest than books, they typically have abstracts to help you get an idea of the usefulness of the source, they may reflect more recent research check the dates , and often they are available electronically.
Libraries often have workshops or tutorials on using Boolean search terms to search effectively. JSTOR is one of my favorite databases to use. Either way, use Evernote to clip your quotes include the write citation information so you can find it later. This is one of my favorite ways to do find sources, but there are a few things to be aware of.
Also, the pages available for free preview change sometimes, so if you go back to find that quote later, you might not be able to track it down. Use Evernote Web Clipper to screenshot the sections you want to quote, so that you have them when you start writing. Also, be aware that not every book in Google Books is a scholarly source.
I recommend researching the author and checking out what articles they have written see above to make sure you are getting good academic material. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. The Great Gatsby Paperback by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fahrenheit Kindle Edition by Ray Bradbury. Orientalism Paperback by Edward W. The Republic Paperback by Plato.
Leitch Editor. The Odyssey Paperback by Homer. Mythologies Paperback by Roland Barthes.
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