FINDING WHAT YOU NEED
Academic journals or scholarly publications contain articles submitted by academics or experts in a field. They are written for other experts and often contain advanced vocabulary, have several pages and some kind of original research--sciences may have data collected in the field, social sciences may have a survey (both primary sources) and humanities may provide literary criticism (secondary sources). However, all will have a list of sources or references. Not all journals are "peer reviewed" or "refereed journals", however, those that are, are considered to be the best academic sources for college level papers.
Magazines can cover all kinds of topics and serve a purpose of providing general news or entertainment to a mass audience. They often contain brightly colored photographs and short, easy to read articles. Magazines normally do not provide you with references, nor do they document where they got their information from.
High quality newspapers are written by professional journalists and their content is submitted through an editor who requires verification of sources and facts. Although they are still considered "popular" sources, there are many newspapers with excellent reputations for high quality journalism that can be trusted. Newspapers can be both a primary or a secondary source depending on the article.
Trade or professional sources are written for individuals working in a particular field. They are not considered scholarly, however, they can be reliable sources of practical information often written by someone practicing in the field of discussion. Working professionals often subscribe to professional journals to keep them informed of new developments in their field.
A dissertation is a researched paper on a specialized topic that advances research in a field of study. Students enrolled in an academic doctoral program submit their research paper, consisting of many pages, to a panel of experts for review as part of the process of earing a PhD. However, dissertations are not considered peer reviewed and you should ask your professor if they will accept them as a source for your assignment. You can always use the reference list in a dissertation to find other published, peer reviewed articles on the same or similar topics.
Conference proceedings include papers presented by a researcher about their current work in progress and they receive feedback from an audience of their peers in the field. Often new discoveries are presented for the first time at conferences where they can be debated. Researchers return home with the feedback and incorporate this into their work before submitting a paper for publication in a journal. Conference papers are not considered peer reviewed and you should check with your professor to see if they will accept it as a source for your assignment.
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Subject Terms - standardized terms describing the main idea of an article. (Think: official hashtag)
Databases - an organized collection of information stored electronically and systematically tagged with Subject Terms for ease of retrieval.
Boolean Searching - combining keywords or search terms with Boolean operators AND, OR, NOT to improve search results.
Search String - a combination of search terms, Boolean operators and symbols used in database searching.
Primary Source - a first hand account of events (Think: interview with a witness); raw data collected in the field (Think: responses to a survey or bacteria collected from a pond); a work of art (Think: a painting, vase or novel).
Secondary Source - a source that discusses or critiques a primary source (Think: textbook, literary criticism, political analysis.)
Tertiary Source - summarizes information in primary and secondary sources to provide background or an overview on a topic. (Think: Wikipedia, Encyclopedia, Almanac)
