Documenting your research paper Flashcards
Library research
Is based on other people’s published primary research it involves:
- Searching for scholarly publications
- Collecting research info from them to inform and write your paper
What are the benefits to using scholarly sources
- They are written by specialists and experts in the field
- They contain original research
- They meet certain standarts
- They have been subject to careful review and evaluations by peers before publication
Trust Triangle
- Scholarly book
- Bibliography
- Scholarly article
- Interview
- Trade Book
- Encyclopedia
- Pop magazine
- Newspaper
Google vs. Scolarly sources
- Google turns up hundreds of results. How could we choose?
- Google may not be reliable or trustworthy (non academic)
- With Google it’s impossible to narrow down the search
- Google provides only a limited preview of an article and books
Which websites are appropriate for a research paper?
We need to ask ourselves the question "Who is the sponsor agency?" if it's a: -University -Scientific organization - Government agency then it's scholarly (.ede .gov .qc .ca)
What online sources are not scholarly?
Open source internet media such as wikipedia or about.com because:
- they were not written by specialists
- there wasn’t any peer review
- anyone can add info and edit the articles
Non academic books
- Trade books (how to…)
- Pop magazines
- Non-fiction written by journalists
What are the basic types of academic sources?
- Scholarly books
2. Journal Articles
Scholarly Books
-includes: scientific work, doctorat dissertation, edited books, etc.
-published by university presses
-treats a scholarly topic in depth
-coverage is extensive
-have an exhaustive bibliography
Reg. vs edited books:
reg: written by one or more authors
edited -compilation of chapters from different authors on the same subject
-have an edition
Journal Articles
- focus on one subject of scholarly topic
- shorter than books, but can be lengthy (30+ pages)
- original research
- written by and for specialists
- published in discipline-specific journals
- peer reviewed (careful evaluation and ensure that it meets academic standards)
- up-to-date source information
- nay be published quotally or bi-annually
Searching for sources
Rule of thumb:
- must be selective
- apply two criteria
- > is the source scholarly
- > is the source topical? (relevant to the topic directly)
Criteria 1
Date of publication:
- avoid books/articles published over 20 years ago
- content may be outdated, unreliable, won’t reflect the current state of scholarly books
Criteria 2
Is my source topical?
- Journal articles
- title
- carefully read the abstract
- > one paragraph summary of the article
Searching for sources
How do I find scholarly books?
Library catalogue: for books in print(Library’s General Collection) and Ebook databases
