Writing Research Papers Guide: Step 2: Gather Sources

There are many options available for you to use as research sources.

Good Practices:

• Too many vs. too few: It's better to gather too many sources and weed out the not-so-good ones, than to try to make the ones you have stretch to fit the requirements. 
   
• ​Not all good: Not all sources are created equal.  Elsewhere on this page, you'll find suggestions as to how you can evaluate the quality and credibility of what you find.

TYPES OF SOURCES:

PRIMARY SOURCES are original materials on which other research is based, including:

• original written works – poems, diaries, court records, interviews, surveys, and original research/fieldwork
• research or case studies published in scholarly/academic journals
   

​SECONDARY SOURCES are those that describe or analyze primary sources, including:

• reference materials – dictionaries, encyclopedias, textbooks
• books and articles that interpret, review, or synthesize original research/fieldwork.
   

YOU CAN FIND SOURCES IN:

• Books
• Big Bend Online Databases A-Z
• Internet
• Social Media

DATABASES:

• Research Databases - Full-text online articles and peer-reviews in newspapers, magazines, and journals​

LIBRARY GUIDES:

• Fake News - This guide is intended to help you to verify and utilize fact-based news resources for research purposes.
• ​General Subject Guides - This page provides links to a variety of general subjects and topics.

BOOK SEARCH:

• PRIMO Search box - Search for books in the BBCC library

TUTORIALS:

• Big Bend Library Tutorials - How to use some of the library tools

Whatever sources you choose, the most important thing to remember is to establish the CREDIBILITY of the source. Credibility is important because you will be using it as evidence to support your work and you want to find the best evidence that you can. 

Important: 

• With some sources, like databases, some of the work has already been done for you because they have already gone through a vetting process.
   
• With other sources, like the Internet, you have to use all of your tools to help determine if the source you find is a good one.

Before you commit to a source, some general questions to ask are:

Resources: Some of the resources below will help you to determine if your sources are credible or if you might need to keep looking.

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