You use sources as a form of backup for what you write. They support your claims. This means that you own your paper. Readers always need to be able to tell what’s yours from what’s theirs.

In general, you will identify the sources for any idea or information discovered through research by placing a parenthetical reference ( ) at the end of the appropriate sentence, most often directly following the words being cited.

What is the best way to incorporate sources into your research paper?

1. Quotation – when you use the exact words from the source.
2. Paraphrase – when you state the ideas from another source in your own words.
3. Summary – much like a paraphrase, but used in cases where you are trying to give an overview of many ideas.

Types of Sources

• Scholarly publications (Journals) A scholarly publication contains articles written by experts in a particular field.
• Popular sources (News and Magazines)
• Professional/Trade sources.
• Books / Book Chapters.
• Conference proceedings.
• Government Documents.
• Theses & Dissertations.

There are two basic ways to use critical sources. a. You may use a critical source to offer definitions or to clarify a phenomenon you’re describing in your essay. The example above uses a source in this way.

To evaluate your sources, take into consideration the following questions:

1. WHAT does the material contain? ( accuracy & coverage)
2. WHO is communicating the information? ( authority)
3. WHY was the material published? ( objectivity)
4. WHEN was the material produced or written? ( currency)

When we talk about information sources for a literature review in education or nursing, we generally mean these five areas: the internet, reference material and other books, empirical or evidence-based articles in scholarly, peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings and papers, dissertations and theses, and grey …

Cite sources from which you paraphrase facts or ideas as a re-expression in your own words. Cite sources for ideas or information that could be regarded as common knowledge but which you think your reader might still find unfamiliar. Cite sources that add relevant but not explicitly discussed information.

Writing a Critique

1. describe: give the reader a sense of the writer’s overall purpose and intent.
2. analyze: examine how the structure and language of the text convey its meaning.
3. interpret: state the significance or importance of each part of the text.
4. assess: make a judgment of the work’s worth or value.

A secondary source, then, is a source that has also done analysis of the same (or a similar) topic. You will then use this source to discuss how it relates to your argument about the primary source. A secondary source is a mediary between you and the primary source.

In contrast, a secondary source of information is one that was created later by someone who did not experience first-hand or participate in the events or conditions you’re researching. For the purposes of a historical research project, secondary sources are generally scholarly books and articles.

Secondary sources provide second-hand information and commentary from other researchers. Examples include journal articles, reviews, and academic books. A secondary source describes, interprets, or synthesizes primary sources.

Secondary Source in a Sentence 🔉

1. The book about 1985 World War II is a secondary source written after the fact.
2. Even though we had plenty of reports and biographies on Lincoln’s life, we needed a firsthand account that wasn’t a secondary source.