Types of Resources

When doing research in STEM fields, you will come across many different types of publications and resources. You may have already seen some of the more common types - scholarly journal articles, conference papers, books - but there are also some uncommon ones that can be useful in your research.

Publications can be written for distinct audiences and provide different types of information. Becoming familiar with publication types and when they are produced during the research lifecycle can help you find the information you need faster.

Timeline of research and publication¶

Scientific publication types often align with an initial event, discovery or idea proposal. Publication proceeds on different timelines with some initial findings being presented over weeks or months, and longer term studies or analysis occurring over years. Ultimately this is also a cyclical process with idea, data and findings reimagined as new information becomes available.

Primary, secondary, and tertiary sources in STEM¶

The scientific literature is categorized into three main tiers depending on how close the material is to the original research event.

Examples of Publication Types by Source¶

Select a tab below to learn more.

Emerging and Ephemeral Formats¶

Grey Literature refers to sources produced by organizations where publishing is not the primary activity. Primary sources mentioned above like dissertations, technical reports, and government white papers are grey literature, as are some secondary and tertiary resources. While they often bypass standard peer review, they retain high scientific value.

Modern research, however, increasingly involves ephemeral digital outputs:

Diversifying your sources¶

As you work on your research topic, invest some time to consider the variety of sources and representation you cite in your published work. Not only are there multiple types of resources, but there are also multiple perspectives on each topic. Take the time to consider:

• What groups or individuals have firsthand experience and knowledge of this topic?

• What groups or individuals are impacted by this topic?

• Where can I find information that represents a variety of perspectives?

Research indicates that scholars from historically marginalized groups, such as women, and Black, Indigenous, and other scholars of color (BIPoC) are cited less frequently than their white, male counterparts (Dworkin et al., 2020; Kozlowski et al, 2022). However, diversity in who we cite increases the diversity in who is doing research, which increases scientific innovation.

Image credit: Andrea Miller-Nesbitt

Citations assign intellectual value, legitimacy, and authority to scholars and their work. The degree to which a scholar is cited has real-world impacts including hiring, promotion, tenure, and funding opportunities.

The more a source gets cited, the more it will continue to be cited. This effect is intensified by increasing reliance on AI-driven citation analysis. In order to have conversations where diverse perspectives are present, we as individual scholars can critically examine our citations and intentionally ensure a wide variety of voices are represented.

There are many resources to analyze your own citations and diversify the representation in your sources - try them out! Here are a few to get started, and you can explore the links below for additional guidance and ideas.

• Take a moment for this thought exercise: Imagine what a room filled with your authors would look like.

• Where are the gaps in the research on your topic? What are the main viewpoints on this topic and in this field? What’s missing? How could you include historically marginalized points of view?

• Research authors: Who are you citing? Check faculty bio pages, Google Scholar profiles, and other sites online. How do the authors self-identify, and which communities are they engaged with? Who has the author been cited by, and who do they cite?

• Seek output from scientific conferences, organizations or databases highlighting scholarly diversity in your disciple. For example, explore this list from McGill Library of interdisciplinary and subject-specific resources, such as: SACNAS Biography Project, Astroindigenous, Diversify Chemistry, National Society of Black Engineers, Indigenous Health Researchers Database, and many more…

• Consider other ways of knowing that might not be included in the scholarly conversation, such as those from indigenous communities or traditional ecological knowledge.

• Is peer-review always the most useful format for every project? What are some other options and other places to look? For example, primary resources from a member of the relevant community.

Evaluating Resources¶

Before using any sources in your work, you should be prepared to evaluate its relevancy for your information needs. Consider the following questions for any source:

• Authority - Who is the author? What is their point of view?

• Purpose - Why was the source created? Who is the intended audience?

• Publication & format - Where was it published? In what medium?

• Relevance - How is it relevant to your research? What is its scope?

• Date of publication - When was it written? Has it been updated?

• Documentation - Did they cite their sources? Who did they cite?

For a deeper dive on source evaluation, see our Evaluating Resources Guide.

Assessment¶

Assess your knowledge by expanding and responding to the questions below.