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LANG 1406 Academic English for Business Studies

This module should take about 1.5 hour & then there are 2 short quiz. Learn & Enjoy!

General, Academic, and Professional Sources

In high school, you may have relied on the Internet, newspapers, and magazines for information.

While these sources provide current, easy-to-understand information about popular topics, they are not sufficient to inform and support your work in university.

To prepare accurate, reliable, and credible work, you should also consult scholarly sources and professional sources.

Read through the chart to identify some fundamental characteristics of different kinds of sources.

 

Brief self-reflection: 

  • Have you used or heard of some of these professional and scholarly resources before?
  • Do you often consider the time factor that it takes for different information types to be created and disseminated (posted or published)?

What Information Do You Need?

Before you start searching for information (whether via Google or Library databases), you should first think about "What do I really need to find?":

  • What types of information do you need to start thinking about your project?
  • What types of information do you need to provide evidence to support your arguments or opinions?

You're probably already familiar with general information, such as newspapers and magazines. However, you will need to find and read scholarly and professional information sources for your assignments in LANG 1406 or later in your university career, such as:

 

Information Type Academic Journal

Professional Magazine
(Trade Journal)

 

 Market or Industry Report

Examples Vrgović, P., Walton, A. L. J., Sandall, D. L., & Dinić, B. (2023). Measuring Employees’ Communication for Innovation: The Employee Innovation Potential Scale. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 22(1), 43–51. https://doi.org/10.1027/1866-5888/a000306 Gustke, J. (2023). What’s the Right Phone System for You? Nonprofit World, 41(3), 24–25. . Paulman, T., Majumdar, S. & Everly, J. (2024, April 18). 2024 Market Guide for Workplace Experience Applications. Gartner Inc.
 
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:  Jim Gutske

Reporters/journalists, freelance writers, general public.

Example: Tori Paulman
Publisher

Professional societies, university press, commercial publishers, e.g., IEEE, Cambridge University Press,  The Royal Society of Chemistry, etc.

 Commercial publishers, e.g.,  Adweek (currently owned by Shamrock Capital, etc. Commercial publishers, e.g., Gartner, Euromonitor, etc.
Content Scope In-depth research in a specialized subject area. Industry trends, product news, new techniques, legislation, and other information of interest to a specific industry or trade. Reports on markets, industries, etc.
Article Structure

Article title, authors and their qualifications and affiliations.

  1. Abstract (article summary) 
  2. Keywords (research focus areas)
  3. Introduction/Background
  4. Literature review (what has been done before)
  5. Methodology (how did the authors carry out the investigation or experiment)
  6. Findings & Conclusion
  7. References/Bibliography
 Article title, authors often listed.

Often have these parts:

  1. Title
  2. author(s)
  3. Executive summary, or overview
  4. Evidence
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.

For information about specific industry and companies, we can divide them into three categories:

 

Information Type

Industry Profiles

 

Company Profiles
and
Company Information

 

Statistical
and
Financial
Information
Examples MarketLine (2023). Mobile Phones in Asia-Pacific. (2023). Mobile Phones Industry Profile: Asia-Pacific, 1–47. Kurniawan, B. (2024, January 23). Astra International: Downgrade to UW: BYD's faster than expected entry opens up a pandora box of earnings downgrades. J. P. Morgan. Retrieved from ProQuest One Business. Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department. (February 28, 2024). Year-on-year rate of change in real GDP of finance and insurance sector in Hong Kong from 2013 to 2023 [Graph]. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/869938/hong-kong-finance-and-insurance-sector-gdp-growth
Author(s)

Industry experts, analysts, researchers.

 Financial Analysts or strategists.

Various (Companies, industry associations, trade groups, government agencies, statistic bureaus, private research and data providers, financial/investment firms).
Publisher

Industry association and trade groups, management consulting firms (e.g., McKinsey), market research and analytics firms (e.g., Nielsen), investment banks and financial institutions (e.g., Morgan Stanley), or government agencies and statistical bureaus / departments.

Investment banks or stock brokerages.

 Various (Companies, industry associations, trade groups, government agencies, statistic bureaus, private research and data providers, financial/investment firms).
Content Scope Overview of specific industry or sector, including trends, outlooks, performance, forecasts, and key companies in the industry. Recommendations for investors whether to invest in a specific financial commodity or company. Quantitative data and metrics that provide factual information about the performance, operations, and trends within a particular company or industry.
Quality Control Varies by publisher, but typically involves expert review and data validation.

Internal review processes.

 Stringent proofreading and quality control by internal departments, independent accounting firms, member companies, subject matter experts, or advisory boards.
Reference / Bibliography

Often includes references to data sources and industry reports.

Usually use in-house data as evidence, may quote data from other sources to support writing.

Sources cited as footnotes; reference list/bibliography usually not included.

Data may be released voluntarily or mandated by law, e.g., interim and annual reports by publicly listed companies.

Typically includes data sources and methodologies.
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