ENGL 401: Jane Austen: Then and Now (Maurer)

Understanding Source Types

When conducting academic Research, there are many different types of resources you can draw from, and different ways to use them! Think of the beginning stages of your research almost like online shopping - you're browsing whats available, checking the sizing guide, and adding things to your cart on a conditional basis. Below you will find definitions of common source types for academic research so that you can more easily identify what you're looking at when you start researching in Cross Search or other databases. 

Books and Ebooks by experts in any given field of study are considered excellent scholarly resources. Books focused entirely on a certain academic subject are often referred to as Scholarly Monographs. The library has a large collection of physical books for you to use for your thesis, as well as access to a great deal of E-books. You can search the Library Catalog directly by going to the library homepage and toggling the search bar over to "library catalog." This will show you results for what the library physically holds or has digital access to. 

Academic Journals are professional publications containing articles about a certain field of study written by experts. Articles published in these journals are typically peer reviewed, meaning they are read, edited, and eventually approved by other experts in the field. These articles are an example of a scholarly resource, since they are written and reviewed by experts and published in respected academic journals. 

Academic Dissertations or Theses will have this logo next to them in Cross Search

Academic Dissertations and Theses is just what it sounds! People who wrote doctoral or master's qualifying academic works sometimes publish them, and many are findable through Cross Search. While these are considered scholarly resources, dissertations and theses should be carefully evaluated. They are not technically peer-reviewed in any way and therefore should be fact checked and verified before you consider using one in your own research. If you would like to search for this resource in particular, you can limit search results to Dissertations/Theses in our library catalog search filters.

Time Magazine is an example of a popular resource.

Popular Resources are works that are considered non-scholarly, because they do not go through the peer editing process, may not be written by experts, and do not appear in scholarly journals or books. Popular resources are written for a general audience and meant to persuade, entertain or inform. These sources are things like newspaper and magazine articles, podcasts, and anything of that nature. While they aren't scholarly in nature, popular resources can be useful for background information, examination of perspectives, and investigating the public opinion about your topic. You can find popular resources at Holy Cross Libraries by limiting your search results to news articles. Be sure when you're consulting popular resources you're fact checking them- ask yourself who the author is, why they're writing this article, and if the information is reliable.