Academic Writing

A guide to the academic writing process

General Resources

Want to learn more? Check out these videos and tutorials.

Find more information about the research process here: Information Literacy Module.

 

The table below covers some of the most common types of sources that you are likely to encounter when doing academic research. These are not the only types of sources, however. You may also encounter government documents, grey literature, data, and tertiary sources.

Consider the types of evidence needed to answer your research question or make your argument.

Are certain types of sources recommended or required?

Some instructors require you to use only scholarly peer-reviewed journals, primary sources, newspapers, or books from the library, while others might leave things more open-ended.

Scholarly Sources

In brief, scholarly work is:

  • Written by experts for experts
  • Based on original research or intellectual inquiry
  • Provides citations for all sources used
  • Is usually peer-reviewed prior to publication

Scholarly Sources can refer to peer-reviewed journal articles or academic books. The primary audience for this sort of work is fellow experts and students studying the field. As a result, the content is typically much more sophisticated and advanced than articles found in general magazines or professional/trade journals.

Scholarly journal articles: Cover very specific topics or narrow fields of research.

Academic books: typically provide comprehensive, thorough treatment of a subject.

A scholarly publication is one in which the content is written by experts in a particular field of study - generally for the purpose of sharing original research or analyzing others' findings.

 

Popular Sources

Included are both journals and books, with a focus for a general audience. The descriptions below can help identify popular sources. 

Periodicals 

  • Popular magazines and newspapers are found on newsstands written for the general public.
    • The author may be a staff writer or journalist who may not have an academic background in the subject matter.
    • Bibliographies or works cited are rarely included at the end of an article or within the text of an article.

Books:

  • Published by a trade publisher such as Random House and intended for a broad audience, not just those studying in that discipline.
    • The author may have a corporate or business affiliation instead of an academic affiliation.
    • The author may include a bibliography and index, but they are less extensive than for scholarly books.

Primary Sources 

Original materials on which other research is based.

These can be first-hand accounts or creative works, such as:

  • Poems, novels
  • Diaries
  • Newspaper articles
  • Interviews
  • Speeches
  • Correspondence
  • Artwork

 

Collections

For collected works of primary sources, try searching for Sourcebooks—for example, medieval sourcebook. 

Secondary Sources 

Describe, evaluate, summarize, analyze, or interpret primary sources.

Some examples are:

  • Reference books
  • Textbooks
  • Articles
  • Dissertations or theses
  • Analyses (books or articles)
  • Criticism (books or articles)
Subjects: Writing Helps