ENG 111: College Reading and Writing (Schroeder)

Approaching the issue from multiple perspectives will add complexity to your position, which will lead to a stronger paper. Typically, a well-researched paper will not only include a diverse set of perspectives, but it will include references to a variety of sources that support your ideas. For this research paper, Dr. Carducci expects you to cite at least seven (7) credible sources. A source can be:

• article in a reference book
• chapter from a book
• academic, scholarly or peer-reviewed articles
• popular magazine articles
• newspaper articles
• websites (only if it is in addition to the seven sources)

Primary sources include original content, first-hand accounts, raw data, documents or objects created at the time of study. Primary sources vary dependent upon the focus of study.

For example, primary sources for a historian will include diaries, letters, newspaper article written at the time of an event; for a literary scholar, she may study a poem, a short story, or novel; for a musicologist, she may study notes written by the composer; for a biologist, she will study the findings of an original research project.

Secondary sources interpret or analyze a primary source. A secondary source provides commentary and discussion of a primary source.

For example, a magazine article that discusses a research study that analyzed data collected from a survey about literacy in rural school districts.

For your Library Exercise, you need to find two (2) historical/biographical sources in the Krueger Library either in the print collection or through the WSU databases that you might cite in your essay. Historical and biographical sources can be primary or secondary sources. Examples:

Historical Source

• Primary source could be a newspaper article written at the time Malcolm X was alive, such an article could be found used the New York Times Historical Database. 
• Secondary source could be a resource that examines the role of Malcolm X in historical context, such as The Cambridge Companion to Malcolm X.

Biographical Source 

• Primary source could be an obituary found in the New York Times Historical Database or other newspaper databse or it could be an autobiography, such as Malcolm X's autobiography.
• Secondary source could come years after a person was alive. For example, in the library's catalog, do a search for "Malcolm X" and biography to see a list of eighteen results that contain both of those keywords. 

For your Library Exercise, you need to find two (2) critical sources in the Krueger Library either in the print collection or through the WSU databases that you might cite in your essay.  

A critical source is a source that interprets, analyzes, comments critically, and adds to the discussion of a primary source (aka secondary source). The best critical sources are written by experts in the discipline and are published by academic presses (example: University of Chicago Press or Harvard University Press) or appear in a peer-reviewing journal (see the Guidelines for Identifying Types of Articles) 

You can find critical sources through the library catalog and many of the library databases. For this research project, I recommend the following databases for articles: Communication & Mass Media Index, Academic Search Premier, Education Full Text, JSTOR, and MLA International Bibliography. 

Article databases index popular, professional/trade, and scholarly journals (or peer reviewed). Peer reviewed or refereed articles refers to the process in which articles are reviewed by professionals in a field of study before being published. A journal's website should explain the publishing process and if it is peer reviewed or not. Many times, professors use the term peer reviewed and scholarly articles synonymously.

CRITERIA	SCHOLARLY	POPULAR	PROFESSIONAL/TRADE
AUTHOR	Researcher, scholar, or specialist with expertise in the subject; author's credentials are provided	Journalist or staff writer; paid to write articles; may or may not be an expert in the subject	Usually practitioners and professionals in the field (has subject expertise)
AUDIENCE	Experts, scholars, researchers, professors and students in the field	General public	Professionals in the field; may appeal to the general public
PURPOSE	In-depth report of original research/findings written by the researcher; communicate scholarship	Current events and general interest stories; may report about other's research; to entertain and inform	Report current news, trends, and products about a specific industry; share practical information for professionals in the field
TONE	Scholarly or technical jargon or terminology	Accessible and readily understood by a larger audience.	Professional jargon or terminology
REFERENCES	Sources are cited in a bibliography, references, endnotes, or footnotes	Rare	Few, if any, sources cited
REVIEW	Refereed or reviewed by scholars in the field	Editor	Editor
LENGTH	Usually 5+ pages; often includes an abstract, goals and objectives, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion	Usually short, a few pages	Usually short, a few pages
ADVERTISING	Little to none; occasional ads for professional organizations or publications	Numerous ads for a variety of products and services	Many ads for products, services, and organizations related to the profession or trade
FREQUENCY	Issues published quarterly, semi-annually, or annually	Issues published weekly or monthly	Issues published weekly or monthly
EXAMPLES
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION	A book review or editorial published in a scholarly journal does not fit the criteria for a scholarly article.