Choosing appropriate resources for research projects can be tricky. General encyclopedias are rarely sufficiently detailed to support a research project, although a major encyclopedia like the Encyclopaedia Britannica will provide a scholarly treatment of a subject with a list of references for further research. A general rule of thumb is to consult general encyclopedias, handbooks, and subject encyclopedias only for a basic understanding of a subject and for suggestions for further research. In depth research is best found in books and current periodicals.  

A further condition that applies to periodicals for academic research is that the periodicals are scholarly or research oriented. News magazines and popular publications like Newsweek, Time, Life, and Rolling Stone are almost NEVER suitable for academic research. Look instead for journals appropriate to the topic. For example, instead of looking for articles in People Weekly to support the hypothesis that alcoholism is genetically determined, a college researcher should look instead for articles in professional journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association. Journal articles provide research, whereas popular periodical articles only provide easily digested articles geared toward laymen. For college research, these general purpose articles are not sufficiently detailed, just as encyclopedia articles are too general to support a thesis.  

Criteria for Evaluating Sources

There are a number of ways to determine if a source is scholarly or research oriented. A fairly quick way is to check for a bibliography at the end of the article. Most scholarly articles are based on previous research and provide a list of references at the end of the article.  

It is not always possible to actually review a source being considered for inclusion in a research project immediately. Some materials may not be available in the local library and must be requested through interlibrary loan. A researcher can do a preliminary evaluation of sources without actually finding the articles.  

Many periodical indexes provide abstracts (summaries) that sketch article contents and help identify an article's research value. Many of these sources are computerized, including  

The vast majority of publications that have words such as journal or proceedings as part of their title are research publications. (A notable exception is the popular magazine Ladies Home Journal.)  

Publications by professional associations are typically research oriented. Examples are the Journal of the American Medical Association and the Publications of the Modern Language Association.  

Biographical information on the article's author can also provide important clues to the nature of the article. An author who is university faculty or a noted authority in a certain field most likely can be counted on to provide scholarly publications.  

Some research projects additionally require that a researcher rely heavily on primary rather than secondary sources. A primary source is an article or book written by the actual observer of an event or phenomen. For example, a diary written by a survivor of the sinking of the Titanic would be considered a primary source of information on that historical event. A newspaper article written at the time of the sinking might also be considered primary if it was based on eye witness reports. A study of the effect of music on the achievement of first graders in a classroom documented by the observer would also be considered primary research.  

A secondary source either reports second hand events or research that has been previously documented or evaluates previously published works. Many college papers can be considered secondary sources because the researcher relies heavily on other people's research.  

Some papers can include both secondary and primary research. For example, if the previously mentioned study of the effects of music on first graders' achievement included as an introduction to the original study a review of previous studies done in that area, the review would be considered secondary research, while the report of the current study would be considered primary research.