Recognizing Scholarly Sources in History

Being able to identify scholarly sources is essential for academic research. In History, scholarly sources typically include books, book chapters, and journal articles.

How to Evaluate a Source for Scholarliness

• Authority – Is the author an academic historian affiliated with a university? Is the publisher an academic press?
• Process – Is the source based on original research? Has it undergone peer review or a rigorous editorial process?
• Purpose – Who is the intended audience? Is the work written for other academics, or is it meant for entertainment or general interest?

Scholarly Books (Monographs)

📌 Example: Social policy and practice in Canada : a history

• Best for broad overviews and understanding historical context.
• Often structured with chapters on different aspects of a topic.
• Based on original research and written by historians.
• Books are a major form of scholarly publishing in History—don’t overlook them!

Scholarly journal article

📌 Example: "An Atmosphere of Liberation: The Role of Decolonization in the France-Quebec Rapprochement of the 1960s"

• Focus on specific, narrow topics.
• Based on original research and peer-reviewed.
• Useful after gaining general background knowledge on a topic.

Popular (Non-Scholarly) Articles

📌 Example: "1918 - Year of the Conscript"

• Found in history magazines like Canada’s History (formerly The Beaver), History Magazine, or History Today.
• May provide useful background information but not suitable as scholarly sources.

Academic book review

📌 Example: Métis in Canada: History, Identity, Law and Politics 

• Common in History but not peer-reviewed.
• Not appropriate as scholarly sources, but useful for identifying relevant books.

Checklist for Recognizing Scholarly Sources

✔ Peer-reviewed (Google the journal title or check for a peer-reviewed label).
✔ Written by an expert (PhD in History or a related field).
✔ Formal writing style intended for an academic audience.
✔ Extensive citations with footnotes or a bibliography.
✔ Lengthy—journal articles are typically 10-12+ pages.
✔ Published by an academic press (look for university presses or check the publisher's reputation).

If you're unsure, Google the author, journal, or publisher to verify its scholarly credibility.

Before diving into research, start with background reading to:

• Build a basic understanding of your topic.
• Identify key terms for better searches.

Where to Look

Check these tertiary sources for reliable overviews:

• Canadian Encyclopedia – General history topics.
• Oxford Reference Online – Historical concepts and definitions.
• Dictionary of Canadian Biography - excellent starting point when studying historical figures.

Important to Know

• These sources don’t count as scholarly since they summarize existing knowledge and aren’t peer-reviewed.
• However, they are valuable starting points to help you refine your research focus

Expand your search toolbox: Build your vocabulary

• Look for useful terms in book and article titles.
• Pick precise terms & avoid slang.
• Choose keywords that are vital to your topic. Your course outline is a great starting point.

Watch for changing language

• Terms evolve over time.
• Older sources may use different terminology, especially in Indigenous studies.

Use synonyms & alternate spellings

• Many terms exist for the same concept  -
• Experiment with multiple variations of search terms to maximise your results.

✅ World War II → Second World War, WWII, World War Two

Use power keywords, not sentences

❌ significance of women's suffrage movement in Canada → Too wordy.
✅ Canada (suffrage OR "women's rights") → More precise.

Adjust your focus: Broaden or narrow as needed

Too few sources? Broaden your search.

❌ Wendat women in the fur trade → Too specific.
✅ Indigenous women AND fur trade → Broader, more results.
✅ Women AND colonial trade Canada → Even broader.

Too many sources? Narrow your focus.

❌ New France AND Indigenous relations → Too broad.
✅ New France AND Indigenous treaties → More focused.
✅ New France AND Wendat trade agreements → Highly relevant.

Dig Deeper into Books & Articles

• Titles don’t always reveal everything.
• Search within ebooks and skim tables of contents for relevant sections.

Don’t Settle for the First Results

• The best sources aren’t always at the top of your search.
• Browse beyond page one for the most relevant materials.

Final Tip: Adjust your approach, experiment with searches, and think like a historian to find the best sources.

LibrarySearch = Your Research Shortcut.

Make Your Search Smarter

Instead of hunting through different databases, use the search box on the library homepage to find books, journal articles, encyclopedias, and more all at once.

• Use the Sidebar Filters
  • Limit by subject to find the most relevant results.
  • Choose your preferred format (books, journal articles, etc.).
• Find Scholarly Books
  • Look for books published by university presses (e.g., UBC Press, Oxford University Press).
  • Check the author’s credentials—are they an academic or historian?
  • Scholarly books usually include citations, references, and a bibliography.
• Find Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
  • Use the filter for peer-reviewed journals to find research-based articles.
• Try Advanced Search
  • Search for key terms in the title or subject fields for better precision.
  • Experiment with different search terms if you're not getting the results you need.

Practice Activity: Try It Out

1. Search for a topic you’re interested in using LibrarySearch.
2. Find two sources (one scholarly book and one journal article) and "Pin" them to a list.
3. Scan the abstract or chapter headings to check if the source is relevant.
4. Identify 2-3 new keywords from the abstract, subject headings, or bibliography that you could use in a future search.
5. Use the Cite It function to generate a citation in the style of your choice (Chicago, APA, MLA, etc.).
6. Email the citations to yourself for easy access later.
7. Try adjusting your search terms based on what you learned.

Try it now and see how quickly you can find and organize reliable sources!

Further vendor provided search tips for LibrarySearch (based on the Primo VE platform)

Still looking for sources or overwhelmed by LibrarySearch results? Try America: History and Life, a database focused on North American history journals.

Make Your Search More Precise

• Use Advanced Search to refine your results.
• Limit by historical time period to focus on the right era.
• Search within titles, subjects, or abstracts for more relevant articles.
• Exclude book reviews or articles in languages you can’t read.

Practice Activity: Try It Out

1. Search for a historical topic related to your assignment.
2. Apply at least one filter (time period, subject, or abstract search).
3. Find one journal article that looks useful and scan the abstract.
4. Note two keywords from the abstract or subject headings that could improve future searches.
5. Use the Cite It function to generate a citation and email it to yourself.

This helps you quickly narrow your focus, find credible sources, and refine your search strategy.

Want to Level Up? Try Boolean Techniques

Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) refine your search and help you find more relevant results.

• ✅ Too many results? Use AND to narrow.
  • Indigenous women AND fur trade → Only finds sources containing both terms.
• ✅ Too few results? Use OR to expand.
  • suffrage OR "women's rights" → Finds sources that include either term.
• ✅ Irrelevant results? Use NOT to exclude.
  • residential schools NOT United States → Removes U.S.-focused sources.
• ✅ Use quotation marks for exact phrases.
  • "residential school system" → Finds that exact phrase rather than separate mentions of "residential," "school," and "system."
• Nested Searches (Using Parentheses): Combine multiple Boolean operators for complex searches.

  • ✅ (Indigenous women OR First Nations women) AND fur trade

    ✅ (suffrage OR "women's rights") AND (Canada OR "North America")

Advanced Search Tools: Many databases offer dropdown menus to build Boolean searches automatically.