Loyola University Chicago
The Writing Center
IC 221 (LSC), Corboy 811 (WTC)
• There are two kinds of sources: primary, and secondary.
• A primary source is a historical document, newspaper article,
or original text/work that you are investigating, such as The
Magna Carta (ancient legal document), War and Peace
(novel), and “The Mona Lisa.”
• A secondary source is an authority or opinion about your
primary source. For example, an article written about the
legal implications of The Magna Carta, or a professor’s lecture
on what War and Peace has to say about Napoleonic Europe,
or an art documentary about the identity of the real “Mona
Lisa” subject.
• You use secondary sources to supplement your arguments
about a primary source.
• Let’s say you’re faced with a choice between using one of
two scholastic essays that seem to be saying the same
thing. Which one do you choose to support your
argument?
• Consider the author’s career, reputation, and ability at
citing his/her own sources. A leading expert on William
Shakespeare would be a more authoritative source for a
fact on Shakespeare than a journalist briefly covering a
Shakespearean festival.
• Go to the bibliography at the end of each essay for a look
at the full citations. Make sure the author cites his or her
sources.
• Try to use recently published books: generally, a
publication date of 2013 would be more accessible and
authoritative than one from 1971, for example.
• You’ve probably encountered a writing
assignment that specifically banned the use
of Wikipedia and other online databases as
informative sources.
• Anyone can make a Wikipedia account and
edit any page at any time. Do you really
trust angrygoblingirl27@aol.com enough to
let her support one of your facts?
• Your teacher has no way of checking that
you yourself have not changed the article to
reflect your own opinions.
• Finally, Wikipedia, while useful for quick
reference, is not a peer-reviewed Academic
publication. No one can respond to or
contest articles written by others. They can
only flag and change the information; there
is no dialogue between scholars.
• Comments sections on Youtube,
Reddit, and online news or informative
articles are also unlikely to impress
your teacher, unless done for a specific
project (i.e. on internet behavior).
• You have no way of proving the
identity of these people, or of verifying
the political or historical facts that
“Anonymous” is so sure of that he will
keep spamming the wall with sarcastic
replies to “masterhawkgeneral11”
until he loses interest or gets
cyberbullied/banned.
• Suppose you Google the terms in your essay
assignment and find a very informative blog
written by a professor with full citations.
• Sadly, blogs are not peer reviewed, so this blog
cannot be cited in an essay. However, reading
the blog and checking out the bibliography
might provide you with genuine peer-reviewed
books and articles to cite!
• There are some exceptions to this rule: if the
blog is run by a university, organization, or
individual, and contains authoritative
information concerning said university,
organization, or individual, your teacher may
allow you to use it as a source. Just ask!
• Whether you are writing a
scientific or an arts and
humanities essay, the same rule
applies: use peer-reviewed
scholastic sources.
• News websites like CNN, the BBC,
and Reuters are acceptable
sources, as long as the news
article is cited in proper format,
and can be found online by your
teacher.
• Use JSTOR, Ebscohost,
ProjectMuse, and other
databases to find articles.
• Go to http://libraries.luc.edu/ (Loyola Libraries
website) and click on “Databases” in the bottom left
corner under “Find.”
• There you can search for databases by name, by
subject, by media type, or simply scroll down the list of
Loyola’s available databases until you find one that
looks promising.
• Also located under “Find” is the link to “Research
Guides.” If you click on that, you can search for your
paper topic, and possibly get some ideas from the
available guides.
• Newspapers are an often over-looked
primary source, containing first-hand
accounts or historical documents that
can be cited as fact.
• Many newspaper and magazine
databases can be accessed through
the Loyola Libraries website, such as
the:
i.
Chicago Sun-Times (1986-current).
ii. New York Times (1851-2007)
iii. Times Digital Archive (Civil War20th century)
iv. Early American Newspapers (16901876)
• Loyola also boasts an impressive number of
eBooks that can be accessed online through the
library website under “Find.” Simply search the
online book catalogue Pegasus or Worldcat Local
for your subject.
• Scroll down to the “Format” section on the left
hand side of your results. Check the “eBook” box
to view and read the available titles.
• Other Chicago universities such as
Northwestern University, University of
Chicago, and UIC might have access to other
useful databases.
• Contact Loyola librarians at
http://libraries.luc.edu/ by clicking “Ask a
Librarian” under “Help,” if you have difficulty
finding sources, or need a particular database
not available through LUC’s library.