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English Grade 7
Quarter 3 Module 4
Research a topic with support using two
or three sources, newspaper, website,
printed materials

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 I. Title
Familiarize the type of resources or sources of information: primary, secondary and tertiary. EN7
VCiv-c-15

II. Concept Notes

1. Primary sources are original materials on which other research is based, including:
o original written works – poems, diaries, court records, interviews, surveys, and original
research/fieldwork, and
o research published in scholarly/academic journals.
2. Secondary sources are those that describe or analyze primary sources, including: o reference
materials – dictionaries, encyclopedias, textbooks, and books and
articles that interpret, review, or synthesize original research/fieldwork.
3. Tertiary sources are those used to organize and locate secondary and primary sources.
o Indexes – provide citations that fully identify a work with information such as author, titles
of a book, article, and/or journal, publisher and publication date, volume and issue number
and page numbers.
o Abstracts – summarize the primary or secondary sources,
o Databases – are online indexes that usually include abstracts for each primary or
secondary resource and may also include a digital copy of the resource.

~ Mary Woodley, CSUN Oviatt Library

You may watch the following videos to understand the topics more.
Primary Vs. Secondary Sources
Presented by the Ithaca College Library

https://youtu.be/cqXHO7bTPnw

https://youtu.be/SkSf-rZFZ_A

Scholarly vs. Popular Periodicals

https://youtu.be/tN8S4CbzGXU

Magazine or Journal?
When searching for articles, it's important to know what type of source, or periodical in which the articles
are published. This is because each type has its own purpose, intent, audience, etc. This guide lists criteria to
help you identify scholarly journals, trade journals, and magazines. It is the first step in critically evaluating
your source of information. Determining what makes a journal scholarly is not a clear-cut process, but there
are many indicators which can help you.

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Scholarly Journal

• Reports original research or experimentation

• Articles written by an expert in the field for other experts in the field
• Articles use specialized jargon of the discipline
• Articles undergo peer review process before acceptance for publication in order to assure creative
content
• Authors of articles always cite their sources in the form of footnotes or bibliographies

Examples:
Journal of Asian Studies
Psychophysiology Social
Research
A note about "peer review." Peer review insures that the research reported in a journal's article
is sound and of high quality. Sometimes the term "refereed" is used instead of peer review.
Trade Journal

• Discusses practical information in industry

• Contains news, product information, advertising, and trade articles
• Contains information on current trends in technology
• Articles usually written by experts in the field for other experts in the field
• Articles use specialized jargon of the discipline
• Useful to people in the trade field and to people seeking orientation to a vocation

Examples: Advertising
Age Independent Banker
People Management

General Interest Magazines

• Provides information in a general manner to a broad audience

• Articles generally written by a member of the editorial staff or a freelance writer
• Language of articles geared to any educated audience, no subject expertise assumed
• Articles are often heavily illustrated, generally with photographs
• No peer review process
• Sources are sometimes cited, but more often there are no footnotes or bibliography

Examples: Newsweek
Popular Science
Psychology Today

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Popular Magazine

• Articles are short and written in simple language with little depth to the content of these articles
• The purpose is generally to entertain, not necessarily inform
• Information published in popular magazines is often second-or third-hand
• The original source of information contained in articles is obscure
• Articles are written by staff members or freelance writers

Examples: People
Rolling Stone
Working Woman

How do you find scholarly journals?

The McQuade Library has many online periodical databases which contain scholarly journal articles.
Databases such as EBSCOhost and INFOTRAC allow you to limit your search to peer reviewed or
refereed journals.
If you have found an article and are not sure if it is scholarly or not you can find out by consulting the
following books located in the Reference Room:
LaGuardia, Cheryl, Magazines for Libraries, 12th ed., New Providence, NJ: R.R. Bowker. (Ref Z 6941 .K2
2003)
Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory, New York: Bowker, 2003. (Ref Z 6941 .U5 2003) If you
need assistance or require further information please ask a librarian.
The information contained in this brochure was adapted from Working with Faculty to Design
Undergraduate Information Literacy Programs: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians by Rosemary
Young, New York: Neal Schuman, 1999. (Updated 01/07/04)

III. Learning Tasks

➢ Learning Task 1
Instructions: Match the correct answer to the given choices inside the box.
A. Primary Sources D. Reference Materials
B. Secondary Sources E. Abstracts
C. Tertiary Sources F. Sources
______1.Are those that describe or analyze primary sources.

______2.Dictionaries, encyclopedias, textbooks, and books and articles that

interpret, review, or synthesize original research/fieldwork. The following are example of.
______3. Are original materials on which other research is based
______4. Summarize the primary or secondary sources.
______5. Are those used to organize and locate secondary and primary
sources.

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 ➢ Learning Task 2
INSTRUCTIONS: Print out this page and fill in the blanks.

1. Topic: Pearl Harbor

Match the information you need with the resource that would best answer the question by putting the
appropriate letter in the space at left.

When you need Resource

____ 1. A concise summary of the attack on Pearl Harbor and A. scholarly journal
why it happened. article
____ 2. The most recent research on the long-term B. newspaper article

psychological effects of Pearl Harbor on veterans who

survived it. C. government
____ 3. As much in-depth information as you can get in one document
resource. D. encyclopedia article
____ 4. What Americans were saying about the Pearl Harbor F. book
attack at the time it happened in 1941.

➢ Learning Task 3
Topic: Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
Put a check next to the information resources that are scholarly:

____ 1. "Technology Developed After Shuttle Disaster to Aid in Search Today." Atlanta
Constitution, July 19, 1996, p. 11A. (newspaper article)

____ 2. Challengers : The Inspiring Life Stories of the Seven Brave Astronauts of Shuttle
Mission 51-L. (book)

____ 3. "Analysis of In-Flight Winds for Shuttle Mission STS 51-L." Journal of Applied
Meteorology v. 27 (Nov. 1988) p. 1232-41. (article)

____ 4. "Media Coverage of Shuttle." Time, Feb. 10, 1986, p. 42. (article)

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IV. Reflection
Instructions: Complete the statement.

I have learned that ______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________.

V. References
https://www.usg.edu/galileo/skills/unit01/infoage01_05.phtml
https://libguides.merrimack.edu/research_help/Sources
https://www.worldcat.org/title/working-with-faculty-to-design-undergraduate-
information-literacy-programs-a-how-to-do-it-manual-for-librarians/oclc/40542928
https://www.usg.edu/galileo/skills/unit01/infoage01_05.phtml
https://libguides.merrimack.edu/research_help/Sources
https://guides.library.queensu.ca/introduction-research/evaluating-sources/non-scholarly
https://libguides.csun.edu/gbus600/sources
https://libguides.colostate.edu/howtodo/scholarlyvspopular
https://www.utica.edu/academic/library/resources/ClinicalResearchSubjectGuide.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Manual_of_Style/Biographies
https://libguides.merrimack.edu/research_help/Sources
https://guides.library.queensu.ca/introduction-research/evaluating-sources/non-scholarly
https://libguides.colostate.edu/howtodo/scholarlyvspopular
https://www.utica.edu/academic/library/resources/ClinicalResearchSubjectGuide.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Manual_of_Style/Biographies
https://libguides.merrimack.edu/research_help/Sources
https://www.worldcat.org/title/working-with-faculty-to-design-undergraduate-
information-literacy-programs-a-how-to-do-it-manual-for-librarians/oclc/40542928
https://guides.library.queensu.ca/introduction-research/evaluating-sources/non-scholarly
https://libguides.csun.edu/gbus600/sources
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280199583_Information_Literacy_Instruction_Th
eory_and_Practice_2nd_edition20102Esther_S_Grassian_and_Joan_R_Kaplowitz_Informati
on_Literacy_Instruction_Theory_and_Practice_2nd_edition_New_York_NY_Neal-
Schuman_Pu
https://libguides.colostate.edu/howtodo/scholarlyvspopular
https://www.utica.edu/academic/library/resources/ClinicalResearchSubjectGuide.pdf
https://www.amazon.com/Working-Undergraduate-Information-Literacy-
Programs/dp/1555703542
https://www.lifescied.org/doi/full/10.1187/cbe.04-12-0060
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Manual_of_Style/Biographies
https://libguides.merrimack.edu/research_help/Sources
https://libguides.csun.edu/gbus600/sources
https://libguides.merrimack.edu/research_help/Sources
https://libguides.csun.edu/gbus600/sources
https://libguides.merrimack.edu/research_help/Sources
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VI. Answer Key

.4 √
.3 √
.2 √
.1
Learning Task 3

.4 F

.3 D

.2 B
.1 C

Learning Task 2
.5 C

.4 E
.3 A

.2 D
.1 B

Learning Task 1

Compiled by: Gisselle Marie P. Aurellana