When you\u2019re conducting a study, you are going to use various types of scholarly sources. A key step in any research is reviewing and understanding previous studies related to your topic, so that you don\u2019t produce duplicate or irrelevant results. The sources you use are therefore very important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is a scholarly source?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Types of scholarly sources<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Which type of scholarly source should I use?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n How do I find scholarly sources?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n How to evaluate a scholarly source<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Are all scholarly sources journal articles?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Are government reports a scholarly source?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Can I cite non-scholarly sources in my research paper?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n A scholarly source, or academic source, refers to peer-reviewed research, usually published in scientific journals as articles. But this type of source can also include conference proceedings, presentations, and books. Journal articles can be<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scholarly sources are often considered the most credible for an academic assignment or paper because they are generally peer-reviewed by experts in the field and undergo rigorous scientific vetting before they are published.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scholarly sources can be largely grouped into three types<\/p>\n\n\n\n The general rule of thumb is to use a secondary source (like a synthetic review or narrative review) to gain an overall understanding of a topic, and to use a primary source to support specific statements or data. As far as possible, locate the original source: if you are stating the incidence of community-acquired pneumonia in the US, cite data from the NIH or CDC, rather than Johnson\u2019s study on community-acquired pneumonia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your university library is the best place to locate different sources you can use in your research. Through your library, you will probably have access to various research databases like MEDLINE and CINAHL. You can also look up sources online (use Google Scholar rather than Google, so that you mainly get published research in the results of your search). Apps like R Discovery<\/a> make it even easier to find sources; just type in a question and get an answer that includes links to credible published papers on the topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Okay, I said before that peer-reviewed journal articles are usually the most credible. But we also have a lot of academic misconduct, such as paper mills, fake journals, and AI-generated garbage articles that masquerade as scholarly research. So don\u2019t just cite any article you find. Pause and evaluate<\/p>\n\n\n\n No, research is also published in the form of conference proceedings, books, monographs, posters, etc. In fields like engineering and computer science, conference proceedings are invaluable in keeping up to date with the latest advances. In fact, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) runs a digital library called IEEE Xplore that contains a vast collection of conference proceedings in the field. Books and monographs are also very popular in the humanities, especially history, literature and philosophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Government reports may not be \u201cpeer reviewed\u201d but they often are produced under strict supervision and undergo multiple rounds of checks before they are published. Reports from governmental or intergovernmental bodies like the World Health Organization are considered highly credible and authoritative in academic research. So it\u2019s usually fine to cite them in your research paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It may be okay to cite non-scholarly sources such as news media reports or social media posts in your research paper, but these should not be the bulk of your reference list. Even in fields like media studies and culture studies, you\u2019re expected to refer to the work of other researchers and not just popular and social media. Many journals also allow you to cite personal communications (like an email), but sparingly and only in cases where there is no other source available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re new to searching for and evaluating scholarly sources, the best way to build your skills is to read. Read lots of research in your field. Make it a practice to read 2-3 papers per week, even if you are not working directly on those topics. You\u2019ll soon realize the kind of research options and opportunities you have and which sources are deemed the most trustworthy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When you\u2019re conducting a study, you are going to use various types of scholarly sources. A key step in any research is reviewing and understanding previous studies related to your topic, so that you don\u2019t produce duplicate or irrelevant results. The sources you use are therefore very important. What is a scholarly source? Types of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":1804,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[60,59],"ppma_author":[441],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a>What is a scholarly source?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a>Types of scholarly sources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a>Which type of scholarly source should I use?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>How do I find scholarly sources?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>How to evaluate a scholarly source<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Pro tip: I\u2019ve come across writing that looks highly polished and sophisticated but doesn\u2019t contain any actual thoughts or insights. Beware of papers that seem to say a lot but don\u2019t actually say anything when you read the text closely. They could be AI-generated garbage run by paper mills.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Are all scholarly sources journal articles?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Are government reports a scholarly source?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Can I cite non-scholarly sources in my research paper?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n