First, consider how much detail you need.
Begin by asking yourself the following questions. How much detail do you need? Do you require the latest research findings or are you looking for a more general overview? The type of resource that you use will often depend on your answer to these questions.
Consider differences between source types.
- Academic journal articles typically report the findings of a single study. They are focused on one issue or problem within a broader topic and typically offer recent (at the time of publication) developments on the topic.
- Trade journal articles are similar to scholarly articles, but are typically written for application in a particular field/trade. They can be extremely useful for research in visual and built environments.
- Encyclopedias and other reference works are more likely to give an overview of a topic that has been developed over time, reporting the facts, methods and models that have been established and often agreed upon by the research community. In covering so much material, encyclopedia articles do not cover the topic deeply (they exhibit breadth, not depth of coverage).
- Books straddle this void. They give more in-depth coverage of a topic than reference works and cover a topic more broadly than a journal article. Sometimes, depending on the field, they will also include recent research developments. NOTE: it is common to use only a chapter or two within an academic book.
Now, let's consider some common internet sources.
- Online encyclopedias (such as Wikipedia) will give an overview of a topic as well as provide information that can be used to evaluate other online sources. While extremely useful as an entry point to complex research, be careful of citing Wikipedia articles, however.
- News sites often highlight the finding of a recent study that has been deemed interesting by the press, often paraphrasing an academic journal article's results section.
- Websites of organizations that focus on the condition as well as prominent medical and governmental departments will contain both background information that has been written for a public audience as well as relevant findings from recent studies. That makes them a good place to look for information on your topic.
