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Research Strategies

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:: Scholarly?

:: Reference

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:: Databases I

:: Databases II

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:: Databases IV

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:: Evaluation

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Scholarly?
Both general/popular and professional/scholarly resources can provide reliable information, but professional/scholarly resources are more authoritative.

Literature Appropriate for College-Level Research
Not all literature is appropriate for college-level research (and literature that is okay in Freshman-level courses may not be acceptable for upper-level work.) Books and anthologies (collections of articles or essays), periodical articles, papers presented at conferences, theses and dissertations, reference resources, and pages or documents on the Web all need to be evaluated not only for content but also for credibility. In general, the more reputable the author, the publication, and/or the publisher, the greater your assurance that the information is appropriate for college-level research.

Imagine a spectrum with “sensational” publications (tabloid newspapers like the National Enquirer, questionable magazines like Hustler, and “bodice-ripper” romances) on one end; popular general literature (Time & Newsweek; Gone with the Wind) in the middle; and trade, professional, and scholarly or learned publications (The Wall Street Journal; JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association; Milton’s Paradise Lost) on the other end. (Look at the graphic below to see an illustration of this idea using periodical titles.)

Many professors require literature from, or nearest to, the scholarly end of this spectrum.

Literature Spectrum

General vs. Scholarly Resources
A layperson who is not interested in in-depth information may desire non-technical, perhaps even superficial, information, but the professional or scholar may require very carefully researched and well-documented professional or scholarly information. For example, a non-specialist doing some leisure reading on “health and fitness” may find appropriate information in items in the second column of the table below, while the professional or scholar may need the authoritative materials in the third column.

	Layperson's General-Interest Resources	Specialist's Scholarly/Professional Resources
Periodicals	Men’s Health or Shape Magazine	ACSM's Health and Fitness Journal
Reference books	The Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide	Spinal Cord Injury Desk Reference: Guidelines for Life Care Planning and Case Management
Trade books	The New York Times Book of Health: How to Feel Fitter, Eat Better, and Live Longer	Cardiac Rehabilitation, Adult Fitness, and Exercise Testing
Videos	Eight Weeks to Optimum Health	Minimizing Legal Liability: Risk Management for Health/Fitness Programs and Facilities
Websites	BBC Health (http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/healthy_living/fitness/)	American College of Sports Medicine (http://www.acsm.org/)

Primary and Secondary Sources

Professional/scholarly literature can be either primary or secondary. The definition of primary and secondary information varies somewhat from one discipline to another, but most scholars agree that if the author is directly reporting on his/her research observations, actions, experiences, experiments, clinical trials, surveys, etc., the document is primary literature. Diaries, journals, laboratory notes, letters, first-hand reports of research, articles presenting new original ideas, and the like, therefore, are primary sources.

Commentary, examination, analysis, explanation, translation, interpretation, criticism, history, promotion, refutation, and other types of writing that focus on earlier source documents or events in which the author was not a direct participant are generally secondary literature.

A primary source is not necessarily a scholarly source. The diary of a 13-year-old girl is unlikely to be written in a scholarly fashion; however, that diary may be used by scholars and quoted in scholarly research, as The Diary of Anne Frank has been, to better elucidate and understand a particular era or event.

Professional/Scholarly Literature
Professional/scholarly information is more highly valued in academe because these resources are more likely to present an in-depth, comprehensive, and authoritative argument or investigation of a clearly-defined problem or topic.

Scholarly works are judged not only by their contribution to research and the validity of the information they provide, but also by their adherence to the research method, their thoroughness, and their attention to detail and to technical data. Scholarly works

almost always are written by a scholar, researcher, specialist, or practicing professional in the field encompassing the problem or topic.
generally include extensive background information.
usually reference previous work and have extensive bibliographies.
if books or other published reports, are often, but not always, reviewed in scholarly journals.

The presentation or publication process for professional and scholarly information assures that the content is more likely to be authoritative, credible, accurate, and objective because presentation topics, books, or articles are carefully scrutinized by program committees, editors, and/or other scholars prior to presentation or publication.

Journals that require that articles be examined by other experts or scholars prior to publication are designated as “peer reviewed,” “refereed,” “juried,” or “blind reviewed.”

Professional/scholarly publications are brought forward via

Professional and scholarly societies such as the American Chemical Society, IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), and NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English).
University presses like Johns Hopkins, Ohio University’s Swallow Press, and Oxford University Press.
Commercial publishers/imprints such as Elsevier Science, Basic Books, Nature, and Random House which specialize in professional and scholarly resources.

On the Web?
Professional/scholarly information is being published on the Web, but much of that information is protected within members-only websites. When searching for professional/scholarly resources in a general Google or Yahoo! search, examine the document for the same characteristics that distinguish hard copy resources: authority, specificity, background information, references and bibliographies, etc. Utilizing a specialized search engine such as Google Scholar, Windows Live Academic Search, PubMed, or National Science Digital Library may expedite the search process, but be aware that generally speaking these search engines do not index all of the resources covered by the subject-specific research databases and that you may have to pay for online documents that the library's catalogs and research databases provide for free.

The easiest way to locate professional/scholarly books and articles on the Web is to use the library's subject-specific research databases and library catalogs.

To go to the next page in the Research Strategies tutorial, click Reference.

Need Help?

Get help via IM, email (Reference_Services@Shawnee.edu), or by phoning (740.351.3321).

If you prefer face-to-face assistance, stop by the Clark Memorial Library Reference Counter or schedule a Research Consultation with a Reference Librarian.

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