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STEM Librarian
Emily Alling
Subjects: Athletic Training ,
Biology ,
Chemistry ,
Computer Science ,
Environmental Studies ,
Health & Medicine ,
How-To ,
Library Resources ,
Mathematics ,
Physics ,
Psychology ,
Research ,
Science & Technology
Types of Information Sources
Source type: Popular press article
Where it's published: Newspaper; magazine; media website Where to look for it: Library database; Google Who creates it: Journalist or writer Who reads it: General public Purpose: General interest/enlightenment Characteristics to look for: Plain language; Usually no citations/references Example: Lumpkin, Laura. (July 25, 2020). Study says virus made college students’ stress, anxiety, depression worse. Washington Post.
Source type: Primary source
Where it's published: Scholarly journal Where to look for it: Library database, Google Scholar Who creates it: Researchers (institutional affiliations and credentials listed) Who reads it: Other researchers, scholars, experts Purpose: Report results of original research (studies, experiments, trials, etc.) Words to look for: Trial, Study Characteristics to look for: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion Example: Yang, C., Chen, A., & Chen, Y. (2021). College students’ stress and health in the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of academic workload, separation from school, and fears of contagion . PloS One, 16(2), e0246676.
Source type: Secondary source
Where it's published: Scholarly journal Where to look for it: Library database; Google Scholar Who creates it: Scholars, researchers (institutional affiliations and credentials listed) Who reads it: Other researchers, scholars, experts Purpose: Build upon previous work and findings: analyze, synthesize, criticize, draw conclusions Words to look for: Review, Analysis Characteristics to look for: Citations to many different sources integrated and distributed throughout article Example: Singh, S., Roy, D., Sinha, K., Parveen, S., Sharma, G., & Joshi, G. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 and lockdown on mental health of children and adolescents: A narrative review with recommendations . Psychiatry Research, 293, 113429.
