Q. What sources does the library have for my research?

First, ask yourself whether your professor has recommended or required certain types of sources. Some professors require you to use only scholarly (sometimes called academic or peer-reviewed) journals, primary sources, newspapers, or books from the library. Others might be open to other sources if you can show why they are credible and relevant.

Common Terms for Source Types

Scholarly article: written by an expert in the field and reviewed by peers in the field - includes references and has an academic style. Learn more about what "peer-reviewed" means and how to tell if an article is peer-reviewed.

• Note: In many databases, you can limit your search to scholarly, peer-reviewed, or refereed journals. However, this option is not perfect, as it may accidentally also remove some peer-reviewed content. 

Professional/trade article: published in trade or professional journals; written by experts in the field or by staff writers; the target audience is usually professionals in a given field. These articles are generally easier to read than most "scholarly" articles but may still offer useful information.

• Examples: School Library Journal, Harvard Business Review, Engineering and Mining Journal, and American Biology Teacher.

Magazines: written for a general audience. Some are well-researched, complex, and provide thoughtful, in-depth reportage and reflection. Others are superficial and driven mostly by commercial or heavily biased interests. Others fall in-between. Consider your source carefully.

• Examples: The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Economist, People, and Rolling Stone.

Primary sources: created during the period being studied. These document what is being studied in some way.

• Examples: newspaper articles from the time period, government documents, letters, diaries, autobiographies, speeches, oral histories, museum artifacts, and photographs.

Secondary source: one step removed from an event, analyzes primary sources.

• Examples: a book about the Vietnam War based on records from the time, a journal article about Dominican immigrants' experiences in the Bronx. (Most books and articles are secondary sources.)

Learn more about where to search for different kinds of materials.

Next, consider the types of information you need to answer your research question or make your argument.