As
you do your research, keep in mind the following types of sources that
you will need to consult. You will hear these terms used in
univiersities quite frequently.
a. Primary
resources. These include materials written by the person you are
researching or "provide first-hand accounts and is sometimes unpublished".¹They could possibly include newspapers or other documents
written in the timeframe you are searching.
1) Humanities: letters, manuscripts, musical scores, images,
etc.
2) Sciences: data.
b. Secondary sources. These tend interpret for the work of other people or events. They tend to synthesize or interpret primary materials.²
1) Books, textbooks
2) Journals.
c. Tertiary sources. This includes materials found in the
reference area in the library. This is helpful to get an overview of your topic.
As you locate your resources, learn to develop a system for keeping track of your sources, quotes, and ideas. Put them in the citation style as directed by your professor.
¹ from UCLA Institute on Primary Sources, http://ipr.ues.gseis.ucla.edu/info/definition.html.
² ditto.
Journals and magazines are not the same thing. Usually magazines tend to cover a wide range of topics with stories, poems, pictures, how-to articles, etc. in each edition. Journals, however, tend to emanate from professional societies dedicated to a specific subject discipline which include current news or current research in the field. They can include primary (by specific authors) and secondary research (analysis of what others say about work of another author. Journals like this tend to be specialized. There are also non-specialized journals for the well-informed. Specialized journals are often peer-reviewed. This means that a writer submits a paper to a group of editors who are experts in the fields. They review the work and discuss its merits. Papers can be accepted, sent back with suggestions for review before acceptance, or rejected (often with notes on the reasons for rejection).