Welcome to our discussion of the different types of sources we often use as researchers and writers. This page contains information exploring academic and nonacademic sources and primary and secondary sources as well as links to citation information, KU Libraries' "Ask a Librarian" instant messenger, and KU Libraries' locations and hours. This page also links to more information on academic and scholarly journal articles, general interest and popular magazine articles, newspapers, and web pages and Google search results.
As university researchers and writers, we rely heavily on academic sources. You may or may not have used some as evidence in high school research papers and projects. Academic sources are different than non-academic sources because they are written by experts writing in their field and are typically reviewed by other experts before they are published. This ensures they are both timely and accurate. Also, academic sources are written for readers already knowledgeable in the field, which means they contain subject-specific jargon and are narrowly focused, providing an in-depth discussion of a particular topic. Most of the time, your instructors will expect you to use academic sources in your writing unless otherwise noted.
Examples of academic sources include
Examples of non-academic sources include
Primary sources are fictional and nonfictional documents or physical objects of an event created close to the time the event occurred
Primary sources can sources include
Examples of primary sources include
Information adapted from The Brief Penguin Handbook
Secondary sources reflect on, provide analysis of, or draw conclusions about topics based on primary sources.
Secondary sources can include
Examples of secondary sources include
Information adapted from The Brief Penguin Handbook
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