Why using good sources matter...

When you endeavor to find sources related to a topic of interest for your academic writing, you are demonstrating a number of skills

• You are able to synthesize a variety of information and integrate it into your own work
• You are able to investigate the dialogue that has occurred related to an area of interest and engage in that conversation through your academic writing
• Using good, credible reliable sources will elevate the accuracy and authority of your own work

Authority is Constructed and Contextual

Information, in any format, is produced to convey a message and is shared via a selected delivery method.  The iterative processes of researching, creating, revising and disseminating information vary, and the resulting produce reflects these differences (ACRL par. 13).

• Information creations are valued differently depending on the context and purpose for which they are created
• Audience matters. Certain things are created for certain purposes and it doesn't really make one format of information better than another. It is up to us to discern what information process best fits our information need.
• In your own creation process, understand that your choices in what type of information you use, impacts the purpose for which the information product you create will be used and the message it conveys

Source: Project Cora - https://www.projectcora.org/assignment/information-spectrum

Encyclopedias
Strengths: short, contains background information on a topic, normally a great starting point when you are just learning about a topic
Weaknesses: too short, print encyclopedias are out of date quickly, Wikipedia has reliability issues

Books and Book Chapters
Strengths: Provides an in-depth investigation into a topic
Weaknesses: too long, sometimes hard to tell whether it is scholarly

Scholarly Journal Articles
Strengths: often based on research findings or extensive review, written by experts, reviewed by experts, provides evidence
Weaknesses: Sometimes written using discipline-specific language or terminology, hard to understand,

Media Sources (news, online magazine articles)
Strengths: Good for current information
Weaknesses: Sometimes biased, sometimes written to entertain, often not written by experts, often not reviewed by experts

Websites & Social Media
Strengths: Highly accessible, includes government info
Weaknesses: It is hard to assess credibility and reliability...anyone can post online or create a website

Lectures, Ted Talks, Interviews, Recordings, Testimony
Strengths: Primary, first-hand accounts
Weaknesses: It is hard to assess credibility and reliability...single perspective relying on the accuracy of memory.

Take 3-5 minutes and sort these sources into the column that you think it would best fit (academic/scholarly or not academic). 

Source Sorting Activity

An academic publication is something that is generally written by an expert in a particular field.  The primary audience of these articles is members of the academic community...We often use the words, "scholarly", "peer-reviewed", "academic" or "refereed" interchangeably. They all mean essentially the same thing.  When something is peer-reviewed or refereed, we are referring to the editorial and publication process in which scholars in the same field review the research and findings before the article is published.

Other tips to consider when making sure the source you choose is scholarly: 

1. What are the author’s credentials? Is it written by an expert?
2. Published in a journal (is there a DOI?) I
3. Academic language
4. Includes reference list
5. Length
6. A "Received" and "Accepted" date
7. Is it an actual article? Sometimes other types of content are included in scholarly publications, such as editorials/opinion pieces and book reviews.  Make sure you are looking at an article (not an editorial or a book review). 

Scholarly Sources 

• Are written by "experts" or scholars.
• Are reviewed by "experts" or scholars.
• Always consult other research/scholarly sources (include a list of references).
• Will normally be in the form of scholarly books, scholarly journal articles, scholarly book chapters or thesis and dissertations.

Examples of Scholarly Articles

Stofer, K. A., Chandler, J. W., Insalaco, S., Matyas, C., Lannon, H. J., Judge, J., ... & Norton, H. (2021). Two-year college students report multiple benefits from participation in an integrated geoscience research, coursework, and outreach internship program. Community College Review, 49(4), 457-482.

Kosman, B. A., de Jong, D. C., Knight-Agarwal, C. R., Chipchase, L. S., & Etxebarria, N. (2024). The benefits of virtual learning abroad programs for higher education students: A phenomenological research study. Nurse Education Today, 136, 106133.

Primary Research vs.  Review Articles 

Things to consider when you are evaluating your sources

Things to consider when you are evaluating a primary scholarly article for strengths and weaknesses:

• ls the purpose clear? (Look in the abstract - is it obvious what the research question is?) If you do not know what is being investigated, this could be a weakness.  If it is clear what the purpose of the study is, and what the researcher(s) are investigating, this could be something that you list as a strength.
• Is the literature review credible, relevant, and current? (eg: are they predominantly citing other scholarly evidence or something else?) If you chose an article that cites predominately news, or other types of non-scholarly literature (websites, blogs, unpublished data) then this could be considered a weakness.  Also, if you choose an article published within the last 7 years, but they are citing 20 year old research, this could also be a weakness. 
• Is the methodology sound? (Identify the method used.  Is this a valid methodology? Google the method and limitations.  Is the sample size (n) large enough to draw conclusions? Are there any biases to note?) If the researchers are claiming that a large group (eg: undergraduate students) exhibit a specific behaviour, but only have a sample size of 2 people, then a small sample size could be a limitation to any conclusions they draw. 
• Does the author identify the limitations of their study themselves? (ctrl F limitations!) If they do, do they then also describe alternative approaches or steps to mitigate the limitation (s)? 
• Are conclusions supported by findings? (Look for sweeping statements not backed by evidence)

Group 1 

Scan the following resource 

Consider the following:

• What are the qualifications of the author(s)?
• What type of evidence do they use to support their argument? Data, personal opinions, etc.? eg: Do they cite anything? 
• What type of source is this? (website, news, journal article, etc.)
• Is it rooted in research or a review of the literature?
• Who is the intended audience of this article? (eg: scholars, everyone, children etc.)
• Does this source undergo any type of review or quality control?

Group 2

Scan the following resource 

Consider the following:

• What are the qualifications of the author(s)?
• What type of evidence do they use to support their argument? Data, personal opinions, etc.? eg: Do they cite anything? 
• What type of source is this? (website, news, journal article, etc.)
• Is it rooted in research or a review of the literature?
• Who is the intended audience of this article? (eg: scholars, everyone, children etc.)
• Does this source undergo any type of review or quality control?

Group 3

Scan the following resource 

Consider the following:

• What are the qualifications of the author(s)?
• What type of evidence do they use to support their argument? Data, personal opinions, etc.? eg: Do they cite anything?
•  What type of source is this? (website, news, journal article, etc.)
• Is it rooted in research or a review of the literature?
• Who is the intended audience of this article? (eg: scholars, everyone, children etc.)
• Does this source undergo any type of review or quality control?

Group 4

Scan the following resource 

Consider the following:

• What are the qualifications of the author(s)?
• What type of evidence do they use to support their argument? Data, personal opinions, etc.? eg: Do they cite anything? 
• What type of source is this? (website, news, journal article, etc.)
• Is it rooted in research or a review of the literature?
• Who is the intended audience of this article? (eg: scholars, everyone, children etc.)
• Does this source undergo any type of review or quality control?

Things to remember when using Library Search:

1. Sign in to save searches, items, and to request materials.

2. Use the pin icon to save books and articles. 

3. Use the filters on the right. You will use Availability, Resource Type, and Date filters most often.

4. Some items won't be available. You can request unavailable items using interlibrary loan.

5. When viewing an item record, scroll down to the Get It or Full Text section to get the item.

You can search in a way to combine or omit different terms by telling the search engine exactly what you want…this can help you save some time (and frustration!)

• Use quotation marks to keep phrases together - "undergraduate research"

• Use  AND to combine search terms - "undergraduate research" AND benefits

• Use OR to connect two or more similar terms - "student research" OR "undergraduate research" 

• Use wild cards to substitute a letter or suffix with a symbol - educat* (education; educational; educate etc.)

Search Google Scholar

Google Scholar is another great way to find peer-reviewed/scholarly material. Google scholar has a nifty citation chaining function.  The Cited by function will forward you to indexed scholarly material that has cited an article that you may be interested in.  The Related Articles link will direct you to similar articles that may have the same metadata or keywords. 

The Advanced Search is found by clicking the menu icon (top left).
Besides providing links to articles in MRU databases, Google Scholar links to online repositories that contain articles the author has been allowed to upload.  Academia.edu and ResearchGate are among the repositories searched by Google Scholar.

By clicking on the Settings icon, you can select library links to show library access for up to 5 libraries (type in Mount Royal and click on save).  If you are logged into MRU library, links should automatically populate if you are running a Google search in another window. 

Looking for a Non-Scholarly, but Credible Source.  Try a Google Site Search.  

Remember: This does not work in Google Scholar, just Google. 

We talked about a few credible sources that are not scholarly in class

site: universityaffairs.ca

site: macleans.ca

site: conversation.com

Note: Google uses different commands: ~; -; +; but AND/OR also works

If you are searching Google (not Google Scholar), you can also limit your search to show specific websites. Eg:

• site:un.org (United Nations)
• site:gc.ca (Government of Canada)
• site:en.unesco.org (UNESCO)
• site:worldbank.org (World Bank)
• site:wto.org (World Trade Organization)

So, if you know of certain non-scholarly sources that are credible, you can use these commands to weed out sites you don't want to see. 

Example: