For college-level research, use sources to emphasize and support a point you have made. A source is any outside information that can be located in print or online. Express your ideas and stress it with sources to build credibility throughout your paper. Incorporating reliable sources will allow you to present an academic view on your topic.
| Common types of sources | Why & how to use them |
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BOOKS Available in print or as ebooks from your academic library; these books focus closely on a research topic. |
Books contain background or historical facts and can be used to frame an analysis or argument. Hot Tip! Locate only the information you need in books by skimming chapter titles or by finding keywords in the Index located at the end. |
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ARTICLES Articles are published within newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals on a daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis. |
Published more frequently than books, articles can contain the most up-to-date information on a topic. Information found in scholarly journal articles can be used to support specific aspects of your analysis or argument. |
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WEBSITES Any information made public on the open web. |
You should generally begin research using the PTC Libraries’ resources, you may find additional sources using popular search engines like Google. Information from the open web can be created by anyone, so it’s important to critically evaluate any sources you might consider for use in academic work. |
