Research Guides: English 103 Research Guide: Publication and Source Types

Peer-Reviewed Journals

Purpose: to convey academic research.
Audience: educated people in the discipline, typically researchers themselves. Scientists; college and university professors
Conventions: highly structured organization; contains footnotes or works cited pages; published after review by experts in the field; technical or specialized language.
Trouble-Spots: content may be difficult for a lay-person to understand.

Browzine This link opens in a new window
Browzine Web allows your to browze WVU online journals by subject, or look up your favorite title. BrowZine can also help you create a personal virtual bookshelf of favorite journals.

Purpose: to inform or to entertain.
Audience: general.
Conventions: brief articles; contains easily-accessible language; usually written by journalists or professional writers.
Trouble-Spots: may not provide full context for the studies cited within articles.

Access World News Research Collection (formerly America's News) This link opens in a new window
This comprehensive news collection is ideal for exploring issues and events at the local, regional, national and international level. Its diverse source types include print and online-only newspapers, blogs, newswires, journals, broadcast transcripts and videos. Use it to explore a specific event or to compare a wide variety of viewpoints on topics such as politics, business, health, sports, cultural activities and people. Content is easily searched and sorted through an intuitive, map-based interface. Includes 26 resources from West Virginia.

Purpose: to convey research in a simplified form for practitioners.
Audience: specialized: professional workers in a field.
Conventions: contains some technical language or jargon but easily accessible by a college-educated audience; short and concise articles.
Trouble-Spots: some jargon terms may be unfamiliar to a lay-person; assumes common knowledge that may be not common to a reader. Press releases often indexed as trade journal articles.