HillCrest at UIOWA
- How to Find Help and Resources You Can Use
- How to Search an Academic Database
- Know your Sources: Popular V. Scholarly & Primary V. Secondary
- Evaluating Credibility
- Citation Help
- Developing Your Research Question
Examples of Popular Sources
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NewspapersNew York Times, Washington Post, The Wall Street Journals, Houston Chronicle
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WebsitesInside Higher Ed, Wikipedia, Vox, Salon, American Psychological Association, Goodreads
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Social MediaFacebook, Snapchat, Twitter
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Trade/Professional OrganizationsLibrary Journal, National Geographic, The Economist
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Books published by non-academic pressesScholastic, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster
Examples of Scholarly Sources
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Academic JournalsJournal of Business Research, College & Research Libraries
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Scholarly ArticlesThese articles can be found in Academic Journals using databases such as Academic Search and ProQuest.
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Books Published by Academic or Scholarly PressesOxford University Press, Routledge, Palgrave MacMillan
Common Library Terms
Database
A searchable collection of information sources that include articles, journals, websites, and newspapers, like ESCOHost or Academic Search Elite. The library has thousands of databases; some that are general and some that are specialized for different topics and professional career fields.
Journal Article
A type of source, that can be scholarly when written for an academic audience and published in academic or professional journals and popular when written for the public in newspapers, like the New York Times or for magazines like Time. These articles can be found within the databases we subscribe to.
Catalog
The catalog is where you can search the library's holdings, including digital and electronic resources but primarily physical items, including books, films, and across articles and journals housed in databases. Find specific items by searching author, title, or by topic using keywords. Here at the University of Iowa Libraries, this is called InfoHawk+.
Peer Review
An editorial and publishing process for academic articles to be published in an academic journal, usually written by someone in an academic field, such as a professor or scientist. When an author submits an article or book for publication, it must undergo "peer review" which means other experts in their field review and critique their work for final publication. A Peer Reviewed article is a scholarly article your professor in college may ask you to use when writing or doing research.
Scholarly Source
An article or book that is written by someone in an academic field, such as a professor or scientist that is often written for academic audiences like students, faculty, and other researchers at a college or university. Most scholarly sources, but not all, are peer-reviewed and are great places to look for in-depth studies, theories, and evidenced-based information where the author has done extensive research on the topic.
Popular Source
A piece of written information, such as a newspaper or magazine article, website or blog that is written for the general public. Popular sources are great for background or general information that cite real-world examples. These are great sources to use especially when doing research on a very current or hot button topic or issue where there hasn't yet been a lot written in academic journals, like a pop culture issue or new developments.
Using scholarly & popular sources
Engaging with Popular and Scholarly Sources
Popular sources, like newspapers or magazines can help us stay informed about current events and provide more information, such as keywords needed to search for scholarly sources.
Scholarly sources, such as academic articles and journals are sources you would cite in bibliographies and references for your papers and projects.
When you engage with both popular and scholarly sources in your papers you are able to provide cohesive context on your topic. Using a combination of scholarly and popular sources also work to ground the claims you are making in your argument or thesis.
Comparing Popular & Scholarly sources
Infographic by Maggie Murphy & Jenny Dale at UNC-Greensboro University Libraries
Using Primary & Secondary Sources
Engaging with Primary and Secondary Sources
Primary sources are original documents or first hand accounts of an event that often come from a specific time period, like a newspaper article or a diary. Primary research consists of experiments, lab results, or a scientist's notes and documentation from observing an experiment.
Secondary sources are documents or second hand accounts written about a specific event after it has happened, like a book or an article discussing or studying World War II or the sinking of the Titanic. Secondary sources are often a result from primary sources or primary research.
For some purposes, such as writing a paper it is useful to look at primary sources but oftentimes depending on your assignment instructions, secondary sources will be the only sources you may need. Of course, you will always want to check with your teacher first to confirm whether you will be using secondary sources or primary sources or a combination of both.
Primary & Secondary Sources
- Last Updated: Jun 10, 2025 11:16 AM
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