Understanding the different types of sources is not just an academic exercise. It's a crucial skill that will enable you to provide evidence-based care and stay updated with the latest developments in your field.
At this stop, you will have the chance to:
Mastering the information cycle enhances your ability to conduct effective research, critically evaluate sources, and keep informed in an ever-changing world. Click on each of the following boxes to learn more about the information created at each stage.
An event happens
Information: On-scene reports that are frequently updated as more information becomes available. They are quick, short, and generally not very detailed.
Purposes: early efforts to establish facts timelines, people, causes, and consequences
Sources: social media, national and local news, radio, news website
Type of sources: Popular and primary sources in the humanities
Authors: individual people, journalists and major news organizations
Audience: general public, viewers and users seek out trusted sources
Information: Correction of early misinformation; clarification of facts; early development of background information, early commentary and preliminary opinion by general experts
Purposes: to inform, to confirm facts, to speculate about causes, consequences, and future developments
Sources: national and local news, radio news, news websites
Type of sources: Popular and primary sources in the humanities
Authors: journalists
Audience: general public
Information: In-depth reporting; more development of relevant background information; expansion of commentary from more specialized experts, long form stories begin to discuss the impact on society, culture, and public policy
Purposes: to inform, to investigate, to debate, to connect and extend, to persuade
Sources: weekly news magazines; weekly news shows or podcasts
Type of sources: Popular and first emergence of trade sources
Authors: journalists and news organizations, a small degree of expert and relevant stakeholder contributions
Audience: Public, but smaller audience, or audiences become more segmented
Information: Early analysis starts to include theoretical and empirical analysis of events and their broader impacts. Beginning to be published in scholarly journals as more academic research emerges
Purposes: to understand, to analyze, to explain, to debate, to predict, to influence policy
Sources: scholarly journal articles, trade publications and magazines
Type of sources: Scholarly, trade, and first emergence of scholarly sources and primary sources in the sciences
Authors: scholars and researchers, some trade organization authors
Audience: scholars and researchers who share some subject interests, policy and informed stakeholders and audiences
Information: Individual or only a couple of highly specialized experts start to report long-term consequences of events and attempt to place them in a broad context. New and established research continues to be published in scholarly journals and books
Purposes: to understand, analyze, to continue and extend research, to add to or develop new theories
Sources: books and book chapters, new iterations of articles in scholarly journals
Type of sources: Popular, trade, scholarly, primary sources in the sciences
Authors: scholars and experts who specialize in that subject
Audience: other academics and scholars in that surrounding subject context
Information: Analysis continues to evolve and scholarly sources are re-evaluated and reconsidered, adding new levels and types of evidence and interpretation. Analysis becomes more wide-ranging, interdisciplinary, and far removed from original events
Purposes: to re-examine, challenge, reaffirm, build, and change understanding
Sources: books, scholarly publications, reference books, textbooks, databases
Type of sources: All sources types and first emergence of secondary sources in the sciences and tertiary sources
Authors: scholars, specialized researchers
Audience: scholars, specialized researchers, policy makers
