Types of Sources

Does playing video games increase violent behaviour in teenagers?

How do online retailers market to young people?

A strong research paper pulls together multiple types of sources, voices, and viewpoints. Use this tool to explore two different research topics and to see examples of how a wide range of source types can provide depth to your research.

Start by clicking Topic One or Topic Two to choose a demo research topic. Then click on the characters to find examples and descriptions of different source types and where they fall on the popular to scholarly research spectrum.

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Does playing videogames increase violent behaviour in teenagers?

Using social media is a helpful way to gather public opinion on a topic. You may not be hearing from experts, but it provides a snapshot of community reactions to a topic or event. Social media content is not scholarly, but can still have an appropriate place in your research.

Websites can vary widely in their popular or scholarly content. Pay attention to what organization or individual is responsible for the information you are reading. This particular website is an example of a popular type of source. If you find the quality hard to assess, Googling the author or organization is a most logical way to seek out helpful clues.

Newspaper articles capture current events, topics, and even research. They are written by journalists, and while not scholarly, can provide useful summaries or in-depth reporting on a topic. Some articles may summarize scholarly research.

Websites can vary widely in their popular or scholarly content. Pay attention to what organization or individual is responsible for the information you are reading. This particular website is an example of a more scholarly source. If you click on the website’s “about” section you learn it is a project based at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy, which “examines news topics through a research lens.” Looking at a website’s About Us page or Googling the author can give you a good idea of where it falls on the spectrum of popular to scholarly.

Scholarly articles are written by subject experts and are usually peer-reviewed. This means a panel of experts in the field have reviewed the content. It is often original, primary research. Using scholarly articles in your paper indicates that you have read and understand the scholarly, expert discussion around your topic and are contributing to this discussion with your own paper.

Using social media is a helpful way to gather public opinion on a topic. You may not be hearing from experts, but it provides a snapshot of community reactions to a topic or event. Social media content is not scholarly, but can still have an appropriate place in your research.

Websites can vary widely in their popular or scholarly content. Pay attention to what organization or individual is responsible for the information you are reading. This particular website is an example of a popular type of source. If you find the quality hard to assess, Googling the author or organization is a most logical way to seek out helpful clues.

Newspaper articles capture current events, topics, and even research. They are written by journalists, and while not scholarly, can provide useful summaries or in-depth reporting on a topic. Some articles may summarize scholarly research.

Websites can vary widely in their popular or scholarly content. Pay attention to what organization or individual is responsible for the information you are reading. This particular website is an example of a more scholarly source. If you click on the website’s “about us” section you learn it is published by Harvard Business School and discusses their “leading edge research and ideas.” Looking at a website’s About Us page or Googling the author can give you a good idea of where it falls on the spectrum of popular to scholarly.

Scholarly articles are written by subject experts and are usually peer-reviewed. This means a panel of experts in the field have reviewed the content. It is often original, primary research. Using scholarly articles in your paper indicates that you have read and understand the scholarly, expert discussion around your topic and are contributing to this discussion with your own paper.