What are credible sources?

Most assignments require that you use information from "academic sources". What is an academic source? How do I identify one?

An academic or scholarly source seeks to clearly communicate concepts in a particular discipline such as nursing, business, psychology etc.

 There are no absolute rules! You need to exercise critical judgment.

It is often appropriate and necessary to also refer to non-academic publications in an assignment. Be guided by the set requirements for the particular assignment.  If in doubt about the suitability of a particular article for an assignment task, ask your tutor.

These are some of the main types of scholarly journal articles:

• Original research article - reports on original research about new data or theories that have not been previous published. Includes a full Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussions sections. May also be referred to as a primary research article.
• Review article - provide a comprehensive summary of research on a certain topic, and a perspective on the state of the field and where it is heading.
• Case study - an intensive study about an individual, group or community in which in-depth data is examined in relation to several variables.

Learn how to:

• find a journal
• find a journal article from citation information
• search for journal articles on a topic
• search within a journal
• use Google Scholar to find articles