Books are an excellent source for accumulated knowledge on most topics, providing a source for both general background information and in-depth analysis. While most books tend to focus on a single unifying topic, they also often provide a context in which other relevant issues may be discussed.

You can access books from the University of Alberta using the NEOS library catalogue.

Reference works, such as encyclopaedias, handbooks, atlases and biographical references are the best sources for obtaining background information on a given subject and generally becoming more familiar with the topic as a whole. Other works, such as dictionaries and thesauri can also prove to be very helpful as they specialize in defining specific concepts and terms. Using reference works at the start of your research is generally a good idea, as the information provided will help you understand more specialized literature later in the research process.

There are a number of online reference works available through the University of Alberta libraries. Many students also find Wikipedia to be a very useful source of general information on a variety of topics.

Newspapers and magazines are both commercial publications that disseminate news, advertising, information and opinions regarding a multitude of topics ranging from business, sports, art/entertainment and crime to everyday public affairs. They are released on a periodical basis, generally either daily or weekly (for newspapers), or monthly (magazines) making them a great source for time sensitive information existing at the local, national, or even international level.

While these sources can certainly be very useful sources of information, it is important to keep in mind that they are generally written for a very public audience, by staff writers who do not necessarily have any expertise in the field or discipline for which they are writing. Furthermore, these sources do not always cite their information sources, so it is important that readers be able to think critically about what they read before they accept it as valid and accurate.

Check out The Globe and Mail, MacLean's magazine, and Scientific American.

Most Web sites are secondary sources that can provide general background information as you develop your topic. However, the Web is also unregulated and anyone can publish anything on the Web regardless of quality. When you consider Web research, you should always consider the credibility of the site (see Module 3: critical appraisal of information resources), and check the information you retrieve against other, more reputable sources. Informal and undocumented Web resources such as discussion forum posts, emails, and lecture notes are not appropriate for any research report.

Some good quality Web sites that you may wish to use for finding background information in psychology are PsychCentral and Psych Web.

Journals are collections of articles published in a regular and open-ended series on a weekly, monthly, semi-annual, or annual basis, providing access to the most up-to-date and current literature in a given subject area.

Trade journals are published by professional organizations with the intent of providing practical information to persons involved in a particular industry, occupation, or profession. Secondary source articles found in a trade journal are typically written by specialists in a field or industry, and often discuss current issues, events, new developments, and trends, as well as marketing and production information relevant to that particular field. An important trade journal in the field of psychology is American Psychologist, published by the American Psychological Association.

Scholarly journals are valuable primary sources of scholarly research and secondary reviews and analyses. Before publication in a scholarly journal, submissions undergo a rigorous expert peer review process to assess scholarly soundness and academic value. Scholarly journals also require that all bibliographic citations be listed so that all facts and sources can be verified and contain little to no advertising or graphics. There are an extensive number of scholarly journals dedicated to the psychological sciences, including the Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science and Child Development.