Step 2: Identifying Information Sources
Read
The University of Michigan Library provides a variety of information sources for students for free. Each information source serves a unique purpose in the research you will conduct throughout your college career. Google is helpful for everyday information, but for academic research it is important to use high-quality sources of information.
College-level research will require you to use Scholarly journal articles since they contain reliable information to help you develop arguments and provide evidence.
Complete the exercises below to learn more about the information sources you will use throughout your time at the University of Michigan.
Activity
You will complete two activities on this page and the following page.
First, complete the Information Sources Activity to learn about the types of sources available to you at the University of Michigan. Second, you will answer questions about the information sources.
Please review the different types of information sources listed in the table below and then complete the activity on the next page.
|
Source |
Definition |
Characteristics |
Examples |
|
Scholarly Articles |
Written by experts who discuss and document the results of original research |
Has a bibliography Peer-reviewed Authors' affiliations are listed Uses technical language May contain methods, data, conclusions Published in scholarly journals |
Research methodologies Clinical case reports Empirical studies |
|
Books |
Frame and develop a topic area more fully; useful for background on a topic. |
Provide an overview and synthesized information on a large topic in chapters. You likely won't need to read an entire book for a paper, instead just the chapter(s) that reflect your topic or research interest. |
Simons-Morton, Bruce G, Kenneth R. McLeroy, and Monica L. Wendel. Behavior Theory in Health Promotion Practice and Research. Sudbury, Mass: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2012. |
|
Grey Literature |
Materials created by government, academics, business, and industry that are not controlled by a commercial entity. |
Unpublished, non-commercial, hard-to-find information from organizations such as professional associations, research institutes, or think tanks. |
Clinical trials White papers Conference abstracts Dissertations |
|
News & Magazine Articles |
Brief, non-technical explanations of events or research, intended for the general public |
Contains recent information or opinions Can contain pictures or flashy headlines |
Cohen, Joanna. "Let Smokers See the Warning They Need." The New York Times 3 June 2016. |
|
Reference Materials |
Provides answers to specific questions, brief facts, statistics, background; or directs you to additional information sources |
Short, factual in-depth entries focusing on many subjects or one field of study |
Encyclopedias Dictionaries Bibliographies Almanacs |