There are different types of information sources, don't just use easily accessible information sources from general web search, choose quality and relevant sources suitable for your need.
Periodicals as Information Sources
Periodicals are published at regular time periods: daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly
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| Examples | Diliello, T. C., Houghton, J. D., & Dawley, D. (2011). Narrowing the creativity gap: The moderating effects of perceived support for creativity. Journal of Psychology, 145(3), 151-172. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2010.548412 | Now you see them. (2014, April 5). The Economist, 411, 64. https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2014/04/05/now-you-see-them | Manjoo, F. (2014, June 18). Amazon fire phone's missed opportunities. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/19/ technology/personaltech/amazon-fire-phones-missed-opportunities.html |
| Author(s) |
Academics (university professors), researchers, scholars. Qualifications or credentials of the authors usually appear near the names or in the footnote/endnote. Example: Ip, Nancy Y. Y. |
Reporters/journalists, freelance writers, general public. Example: Tara Law |
Reporters/journalists, freelance writers, general public. Example: Matthew Luxmoore |
| Publisher |
Professional societies, university press, commercial publishers, e.g., IEEE, Cambridge University Press, The Royal Society of Chemistry, etc. |
Commercial publishers, e.g., Time, Inc. | Commercial publishers, e.g., Dow Jones & Co |
| Content Scope | In-depth research in a specialized subject area | Topics/stories of general interest | Usually current affairs, daily news, social issues |
| Article Structure |
Article title, authors and their qualifications and affiliations.
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Article title, authors often listed | Headline, reporting location, authors are often named but other times, just an agency listed, e.g. Reuiters, XinHua, Ahence France Presse ([AFP], etc. |
| Quality Control |
Contents are peer-reviewed (revised according to comments from subject experts in the field before publication). May publish errata (list of errors with corrections) in later journal issues if mistakes were found. Articles may even be "retracted" due to serious research misconduct such as falsification of data/results, fabrication of data/results. |
Contents approved by editors | Contents approved by editors |
| Reference / Bibliography |
Arguments, claims and conclusions are always supported by evidence, such as experiment data, survey results, previous research findings. Sources consulted are listed in the end of paper reference/bibliography section. |
May quote data from other other sources to support writing. Reference list/bibliography is usually not included. |
May quote data from other other sources to support writing. Reference list/bibliography is usually not included. |
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PowerSearch is a one-stop search tool:
Note: Articles+ does not cover all our electronic subscriptions due to license restrictions, and the search capabilities are not as comprehensive as special subject databases. |
Databases are structured system for storing and retrieving records. Library subscribes to different databases such as:
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If you know which databases you want to search, go directly to the Alphabetical List. Or, you can explore different subject categories to discover relevant databases appropriate for your assignments.
Details link will take you to the Library catalog record, e.g., ACM digital library, read description to see content coverage. Some databases also have online guides to show tips on effective searching. |
Note: Different databases cover different publications (or same title but different publication years), same search (keywords) will yield different results.
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Academic Journal
Magazine
Newspaper