LibGuides: Tutorial: Food Stories: Identifying Sources

Primary and Secondary

Primary Sources

created by people directly involved in the event/research subject
provides original information

Examples: works of art and literature, raw statistical data, official documents and records, and personal communications

Secondary Sources

Distanced, second-hand information and commentary from other researchers
summarize information from other sources

Examples: edited works, books, and articles that interpret or review research works, histories, biographies, literary criticism and interpretation, reviews of law and legislation, political analyses, and commentaries

Or Both!

There are sources that contains both secondary and primary source materials. For example, a documentary about a natural disaster can include primary source materials in the form of interviews with survivors as well as secondary source materials in the form of analysis of events by Meteorologist.
Some sources are either primary or secondary depending on how you use them. For example, a newspaper article on the Arab Spring is a secondary source if we are looking for materials about the experiences of the protestors. That same newspaper article is a primary source if we are looking at how journalist and the media covered the Arab Spring demonstration.

Scholarly and Peer-Reviewed

Scholarly sources are written by an expert for an audience of other experts, researchers or students.
Peer-Review sources are reviewed and critiqued by the author's peers who are experts in the same subject area.
Not all Scholarly sources are peer-reviewed
- Scholarly sources like Dissertations, theses, some encyclopedias, some textbooks, research posters, some monographs and more are not typically peer-reviewed but are still a good source of information.
The peer-review process can be bias
- The peer review process reflects many of the biases that plague academia such as a bias towards wealthy, privileged, white, English-speaking, Western men.
Peer-Reviewing is slow
- We likely are not going to find peer-reviewed articles about events that happened last week because the peer-review process takes anywhere from 3-12 months.
It is not always obvious if a source is peer-reviewed! Use the Oregon State University guide "Peer Review - Scholarly Articles: How can I tell?" to find out how you can decide if a resource is peer reviewed.

Types of Sources

Knowing what kind of resource you are looking for can help you decide where to search for it. There are all sorts of different types of resources that address different information needs and can be helpful in different situations. The list below mentions several types of information resources that may be helpful to you in your research!

Resource	Description	Example
Scholarly Article	Scholarly articles are about a very specific, specialized area of research Written by experts Typically Peer-Reviewed *depending on the journal* Shorter than a book (4 - 60 pages) Very in-depth and typically assumes the reader is also an expert in the field.	Pia Chaparro, M., Zaghloul, S., Holck, P., & Dobbs, J. (2009). Food insecurity prevalence among college students at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. Public Health Nutrition, 12(11), 2097-2103. doi:10.1017/S1368980009990735
Scholarly Journal	A serialized publication with several articles Typically highly specialized with well-defined coverage areas May contain peer-reviewed content as well as book reviews, editorials, opinion pieces, and event notifications. Very in-depth and typically assumes the reader is also an expert in the field. Journals typically have a editorial board, made up of experts in the field	Journal of Gender Studies
Monograph	Scholarly books about a specific, specialized research topic Typically written by one person who is an expert in the field Very in-depth and typically assumes the reader is also an expert in the field. This makes monographs different from popular non-fiction, which is usually made for a general audience. May be peer-reviewed, but it is difficult to tell. Typically printed by a University Press or other academic publisher.	Booth. (2010). Harem histories envisioning places and living spaces. Duke University Press.
Encyclopedia	Collections of scholarly definitions, articles or overviews that seek to give readers a foundational understanding of a topic or subject. Typically gives a high-level overview of a topic rather than a very niche or specialized display of research. Designed to be used as a reference for certain terms or topics, not read cover-to-cover. Typically more friendly for those who are new to the research field.	Web Encyclopedia: The encyclopedia of the history of science. (2019). Carnegie Mellon University Libraries Publishing Service. Traditional Encyclopedia: Doniger. (2006). Britannica encyclopedia of world religions. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Dissertation / Thesis	Scholarly works created by students in order to graduate or earn advance degrees. They are overseen by or approved by a panel of experts, but not necessarily peer-reviewed. Highly specialized and technical Typically hundreds of pages long Not typically formally published like articles or monographs, but can be found in University/Institutional repositories or databases.	Modern, J. (2022). ’You are all my people’: building disabled community in Uganda’s microentrepreneur economy. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.84695
Conference Proceeding/Paper	Most research fields have conferences where experts in the field can share research and developments in the field with each other, typically in the form of papers, posters or presentations. These research items are then published for further use by experts. May or may not be peer-reviewed Highly technical and scholarly Typically not commercially published like journals, but can often be found in databases or the conference association's archives.	Estill, L., & Guiliano, J. (Eds.). (2023). Digital Humanities Workshops: Lessons Learned (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003301097

Grey Literature

Grey Literature are materials and research produced by organizations outside of the traditional commercial or academic publishing and distribution channels. It can be very helpful in research, but only if it is evaluated and used properly. To learn more about Grey Literature, please see the University of Illinois - UC's guide "Grey Literature"

Using the Right Tool for the Job

Library Catalog
- Best for physical items, eBooks, book chapters
Databases
- Articles, news, data, digitized primary sources, digital media, book chapters
Digital Grinnell
- Digitized Special Collections Items, Archival Material, Art, and student publications owned by Grinnell
Google Scholar- Make sure to set up Library Links!!
- Citation Chasing, Impact Metrics, Author information
Google
- Grey Literature (Government Documents, reports etc), blog posts, social media, hard to find items