Types of Sources | Tips & Examples

When you are researching a topic, you will need to consult and use various types of sources. The most common source types in scholarly writing include:

  • Books
  • Academic journals
  • Newspapers
  • Websites
  • Encyclopedias

As your writing process develops, you will probably adapt the types of sources you use. An initial stage of researching definitions and overviews might lead you to a website or encyclopedia. As your research goes deeper you will access books and journals (scholarly sources).

Tip
QuillBot’s tools can help you during the research and writing process. For example, our Summarizer tool can help you summarize articles or other sources. Also, our Citation Generator can help ensure you are citing your sources correctly.

Books

Academic books offer in-depth and comprehensive information on your dissertation or research topic.

Because they are written by experts, they give you a wide-ranging overview of a specific topic as well as detailed analysis. They can be written by a single author or by multiple experts (in which case there is usually an editor overseeing the book as a whole).

Specialist academic publishers, which include university presses, produce texts which are usually regarded as credible sources. Scholarly books use formal or technical language and typically include a comprehensive bibliography.

Books that are written for a less specialist audience or the general public are less likely to be relevant to your academic research.

Your institution will probably have access to a wide range of books, including those thatare available to read online.

Academic journals

Academic journals are published more frequently than books, and they provide the most up-to-date information in research. They are usually specialized in their focus, and you can look for ones which cover the topic in your field of research.

You will find many types of articles in academic journals, including:

  • Theoretical articles: These add to the theories underpinning an academic field.
  • Original research articles: These are primary sources that provide original research.
  • Review articles: These provide a summary of current research in the field.

For increased credibility, many journals use a peer review process. Before an article is published, other experts in the field (the “peers”) assess the credibility of the findings. Journal articles also use technical, academic language, and provide a full bibliography.

Newspapers

There is a wealth of information on current and past events in newspapers (both online and in print).

Caution must be used, however, as they are frequently published with the purpose of swaying opinion and will often be written from a biased perspective. It is rare for them to include a bibliography or to cite their sources, and they are written for a general rather than an academic audience.

As a source of information on recent events (where no academic study has been done), they can be valuable. Historical research in particular can benefit greatly from newspaper archives.

Websites

Websites can be useful sources in the early stages of your research, allowing you to get a broad understanding of the topic you are researching.

You have to be cautious in using them, however, as it isn’t always easy (or even possible) to say if they are credible sources. Often, they won’t say who the author is, which makes it impossible to tell if they are an expert in the field. It is very likely they won’t be peer reviewed or cite their sources.

However, there are websites that are credible, and you can look for some key features to find them. For instance, academic websites often have articles with a DOI (Digital Object Identifier). This is a good sign that this is a credible academic source. Other things to look for are trusted domain extensions:

  • URLs that have .edu at the end are educational institutions and likely to be credible.
  • URLs that have .gov are government websites.

Both these domain types are usually thought to be trustworthy. However, if you are unsure whether a source is reliable, you can assess it using the CRAAP test.

Encyclopedias

An encyclopedia is a tertiary source that contains an alphabetical listing of a wide range of subjects and areas of interest. The information is usually an overview or summary of the topic.

While most entries are written by experts, encyclopedias usually do not credit a particular author for an article, so it is difficult to assess the expertise behind the article. In general, they do not provide the specialized knowledge that you find in an academic journal. They are a useful source for early research and general subject exploration.

There are both general encyclopedias and subject-specific ones:

  • General encyclopedias will cover a very broad range of topics.
  • Subject encyclopedias have a particular field as their focus, and their entries cover that specialism (e.g., quantum physics or world religion).

You can find encyclopedias online (e.g., Wikipedia) or in print.

Primary, secondary, and tertiary sources

Wherever you find your source it will be a:

  • Primary source: This is a source that contains direct evidence relevant to your topic (e.g., an original survey conducted for the research project).
  • Secondary source: This type of source interprets primary sources or comments on them (e.g., a systematic review).
  • Tertiary source: This source takes a broader view, often summarizing primary and secondary sources, but without offering new insights or analysis (e.g., an encyclopedia).

Your research might well start with considering a number of tertiary sources to make you aware of the topics and areas you should cover. As your research progresses, you will need to look for primary and secondary sources.

Whether a source is primary, secondary, or tertiary will depend on your topic, how you use the source, as well as its own characteristics.

Example: Primary vs secondary sources
If you are studying the effects of social media on adolescent mental health, a systematic review of the subject in a journal is a secondary source, as it is bringing together the results of some primary sources.

However, if you are studying the potential for bias in adolescent mental health research, the same systematic review could become a primary source, because it could help to illustrate gaps in the research that might be due to bias (e.g.,the published research tends to ignore the negative impact of body shaming on boys).

Frequently asked questions about types of sources

What types of sources do academic researchers use?

Researchers use many different types of sources, including:

  • Books
  • Journals
  • Websites
  • Encyclopedias
  • Newspapers

The types of source you use might change as you make progress through the research process.

Scholarly sources are written by experts in the field of study using technical or academic language. Very often they are peer-reviewed before publication, and they will always have a full bibliography. They are usually considered to be credible sources.

Popular sources are written for a more general audience. They are most likely to be written by journalists and may not have a bibliography. Their language is generally less formal, and they might be written from a biased point of view. This means that these types of sources are not always reliable, but can still be used and cited if appropriate to your research.

Where can I find scholarly sources?

Knowing how to find the credible sources you need is important when conducting research.

  • Check with the library at your institution to see what journals, books, research databases, and other types of sources they can give you access to.
  • Search for publications from respected academic publishers and university presses, as these have a reputation for being trustworthy scholarly sources.
  • Search for journals that use a peer review process. They are more credible as experts have reviewed the research before publication.
What are the main types of sources cited by academic researchers?

Academic researchers use a range of credible sources in their works. They will typically cite only their primary and secondary sources. The main types of sources are:

  • Books
  • Academic journals
  • Websites
  • Encyclopedias
  • Newspapers

Your research process is likely to include many of these types of scholarly sources, although the sources used will vary according to the goals and topic of your research.

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Trevor Marshall, MSc

Trevor has a BA in English Literature & Language and an MSc in Applied Social Studies. He has been a teacher for 25 years, with 15 years experience teaching ESL alongside 1st language students.