What is a suitable academic source?

Generally speaking, if you are undertaking reading for your assignments you will focus on peer-reviewed journal articles, books and reputable websites. Depending on your course of study you may also have to read other official material such as law cases, government papers, conference papers, policy documents etc.

Even apparently non-academic written sources such as newspapers, blogs, leaflets, social media feeds etc can be used in academic work as long as you are using them appropriately (e.g. to gauge or demonstrate public opinion rather than as an authoritative voice).

Academic sources do not have to be written texts, again depending on your course of study, you may need to refer to images, artwork, maps, film, TV broadcasts, music, podcasts, live performances etc. What is important is that you are able to use these sources critically, showing that you understand when to use them and why.

This short video from McMaster University Libraries gives you a useful way to determine the appropriateness of sources for your assignments:

Journal articles

Academic journal articles are probably the most reliable source of current thinking in your field. To be the most reliable they need to be peer reviewed. This means that other academics have read them before publication and checked that they are making claims that are backed up by their evidence.

To find peer reviewed academic journal articles you need use either Summon or specific journal databases (found via the Articles & Journals tab on your Subject LibGuide).

The majority of them will have a check box (usually on the left of the screen) which limits your searches to peer reviewed journals. Some do not have such a check box (for example MedLine) but that is because they only publish peer reviewed journals anyway.

Just because an article has been peer reviewed, it does not mean you cannot critique it. The peer review process does not guarantee that everything in the paper is true - it just means it is worthy of publication and that the claims made in it are credible based on the evidence put forward by the authors. You could easily find another peer reviewed journal that gives an opposite point of view which you can use to back up your critique.

Books

Whilst books remain an excellent source of information, they are not always reliable because:

Material could be out of date - the long turn around between submission and publication means that even relatively recent publications may contain information that has been superseded.
Books are rarely peer-reviewed - they will be edited, but the editors are not always subject specialists.
Books are created to make money - they may over-inflate the importance of their claims in order to sell more copies.

That is not to say you should not use books, just be aware of these limitations.

Websites

Websites could be created by highly reputable agencies or they could be created by a teenager in their bedroom. You need to learn to be discernible about which sites you use and the credibility you give to them.

Many websites are the only source for official documents such as company reports, government papers, NHS policies etc and these can be used as reliable and authoritative sources of information. It is sometimes less obvious however, and you need to make sure you do a little research to determine if the site you are looking at is as reliable.

Example - not all websites are as trustworthy as others

Imagine you are researching information about how changing diet can help in cancer treatment. You may find websites from reputable agencies such as Cancer Research UK or MacMillan Cancer Support alongside sites from private clinics or companies selling dietary supplements (which may purport to be giving advice whilst pointing you to their products). You need to be able to discern which sites are trustworthy and which are not.

You could still use information given on the less reputable sites, but only in the context of how patients must be careful about where they get their advice from or to show how advice is being disseminated to the public.

Newspapers and news reports (online or broadcast)

Newspapers may have a remit to inform but they have, and have always had, very different political and social agendas. The intended audience and the reporters'/editors' purposes in writing the articles can greatly affect their content. What are introduced as 'facts' to back up arguments can be extremely selectively chosen and you need to take this into account.

Some sources are more reliable than others but they may still involve a great deal of bias. Generally, the broadsheet newspapers are more reliable than the tabloids but they too will spin information to meet their own agendas. Newspaper articles are good ways of evidencing public opinion and for historians they offer a unique insight into some time periods - as long as they are not used as the only source of information.

Broadcast news can vary incredibly but if you want to use something that you saw or heard on the news then it is always a good idea to balance it by looking at reports from alternative sources on the same subject. For example, the BBC may cover a world event completely differently to CNN or Al Jazeera.

Primary vs secondary sources

Primary sources include anything that is original data (research results, first-hand accounts, original works etc). Secondary sources interpret primary resources (journal articles, books, documentaries etc). For a simple table giving general and specific examples see this website: Definitions and Examples of Primary vs Secondary Sources.

Some subject areas do not need you to distinguish specifically between the two types of sources, others however place a great deal of importance on the difference (for example history and nursing). You will be given specific guidance in your modules if this is the case.