How to research & assess scholarly literature

By the time someone is in college, they should have already been taught basic information literacy to the extent that they can write a properly researched essay using reliable formal sources. This video explains how to research & assess scholarly literature.


Amrhein, Valentin, David Trafimow, and Sander Greenland. “Inferential Statistics as Descriptive Statistics: There Is No Replication Crisis If We Don’t Expect Replication.” The American Statistician 73.sup1 (2019): 262–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/00031305.2018.1543137.

Bailey, Erika. “Library Guides: History: Primary & Secondary Sources.” University of Washington Library, 4 August 2023. https://guides.lib.uw.edu/c.php?g=344285&p=2580599.

Baril, Kathleen. “LibGuides: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Literature in the Sciences.” Ohio Northern University, 24 June 2022. https://library.onu.edu/c.php?g=376902&p=2550713.

Beall, Jeffrey. “Beall’s List – of Potential Predatory Journals and Publishers.” Beall’s List, 8 December 2021. https://beallslist.net/.

———. “How to Recognize Predatory Journals.” Beall’s List, 8 December 2021. https://beallslist.net/how-to-recognize-predatory-journals/.

———. “Potential Predatory Scholarly Open-Access Journals.” Beall’s List, 8 December 2021. https://beallslist.net/standalone-journals/.

Bezet, Amanda. “LibGuides: Research Process: Scholarly and Peer-Reviewed Journals.” National University Library, 23 February 2024. https://resources.nu.edu/researchprocess/scholarlyjournals.

Brilliant, Mark. “Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources in History” (n.d.).

Chambers, Chris. “Strategies for Improving Study Robustness in Controversial Research.” Powerpoint. Cardiff University Center for Open Science, 16 January 2018. https://osf.io/https://osf.io/v7ndz.

Chapman, Julie. “LibGuides: Laboratory Science Technology Program Guide: Scientific Publication Cycle.” Northeast WI Technical College, n.d. https://nwtc.libguides.com/c.php?g=459139&p=5125703.

chrisontheatre. “Chris’s Hierarchy of Appealing to Authority.” Chris Neville-Smith’s Blog on Theatre, 21 May 2017. https://chrisontheatre.wordpress.com/2017/05/21/chriss-hierarchy-of-appealing-to-authority/.

Cleary, Anne. “Subject and Research Guides: Modern History: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources.” Macquarie University Library, 18 December 2023. https://libguides.mq.edu.au/c.php?g=952553&p=6915266.

Davey, Reginald. “What Is the Replication Crisis?” News-Medical, 13 April 2022. https://www.news-medical.net/life-sciences/What-is-the-Replication-Crisis.aspx.

Dobson, Miriam, and Benjamin Ziemann. Reading Primary Sources: The Interpretation of Texts from Nineteenth and Twentieth Century History. London & New York: Routledge, 2009.

Engle, Michael. “LibGuides: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources: A Quick Guide: Primary Sources.” Cornell University Library, 17 March 2023. https://guides.library.cornell.edu/sources/primary.

Fleming, Will. “6.1 Information Literacy | Technical Writing at LBBC.” Open Oregon Educational Resources. Linn-Benton Community College, 2020. https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/lbcctechwriting/chapter/6-1-information-literacy/.

Forbes, Heather J., Jason C. Travers, and Jenee Vickers Johnson. “Supporting the Replication of Your Research.” Pages 237–62 in Research Ethics in Behavior Analysis. Edited by David J. Cox, Noor Y. Syed, Matthew T. Brodhead, and Shawn P. Quigley. Academic Press, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-90969-3.00003-7, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780323909693000037.

Goldman, Crystal. “LibGuides: MCWP 50 & MCWP 125: Primary, Secondary & Tertiary Sources.” UC San Diego, 9 February 2024. https://ucsd.libguides.com/MCWP/sources.

Gupta, Amarnath. “Biological Sequences.” Pages 223–24 in Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Edited by Ling Liu and M. Tamer Özsu. Boston, MA: Springer US, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-39940-9_1307, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-39940-9_1307.

Hall, Lucas. “Research Guides: Primary Sources: A Research Guide: Primary vs. Secondary.” UMass Boston Healey Library, 25 October 2023. https://umb.libguides.com/PrimarySources/secondary.

Hirschhorn, Rony, and Tom Schonberg. “Replication.” Reference Module in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Psychology. Elsevier, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-820480-1.00014-0, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128204801000140.

Knowlton, Steven. “Research Guides: Finding Scholarly Literature on a Topic in History: Finding Bibliographies.” Princeton University Library, 19 December 2023. https://libguides.princeton.edu/c.php?g=84184&p=541316.

Korbmacher, Max, Flavio Azevedo, Charlotte R. Pennington, Helena Hartmann, Madeleine Pownall, Kathleen Schmidt, Mahmoud Elsherif, Nate Breznau, Olly Robertson, et al. “The Replication Crisis Has Led to Positive Structural, Procedural, and Community Changes.” Communications Psychology 1.1 (2023): art. 1, pp. 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44271-023-00003-2.

Kronick, David A. “The Commerce of Letters: Networks and ‘Invisible Colleges’ in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Europe.” The Library Quarterly 71.1 (2001): 28–43. https://doi.org/10.1086/603239.

Kucherov, Gregory. “Evolution of Biosequence Search Algorithms: A Brief Survey.” Bioinformatics 35.19 (2019): 3547–52. https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btz272.

@luschnig.bsky.social [@StefanLuschnig]. “Submitted a String of Machine-Generated Nonsense to a Bogus Journal Called Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research #BJSTR @Biomedres01 Https://Biomedres.Us/Index.Php – Got Quickly Accepted after Scrupulous Peer Review… Here Are the Proofs ;-) Enjoy Https://T.Co/Iffa80M9A6.” Tweet. Twitter, 19 May 2018. https://twitter.com/StefanLuschnig/status/997823306551250944.

Lysenko, Vita. “Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research Fake?” ResearchGate, 18 September 2019. https://www.researchgate.net/post/Biomedical-Journal-of-Scientific-Technical-Research-fake.

Mehler, David. “The Replication Challenge: Is Brain Imaging Next?” Pages 67–71 in Casting Light on the Dark Side of Brain Imaging. Edited by Amir Raz and Robert T. Thibault. Academic Press, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-816179-1.00010-4, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128161791000104.

Meirow, Eden. “How to Find Primary Sources for Your History Essay.” Kibin Blog, 9 February 2016. https://www.kibin.com/essay-writing-blog/how-to-find-primary-sources-for-your-essay/.

Mondal, Himel, and Shaikat Mondal. “Pressure to Publish: Index Copernicus and Predatory Journals Are Helping (?) Academicians.” Indian Dermatol Online J 10.3 (2019): 332–34. https://doi.org/10.4103/idoj.IDOJ_225_18.

Office of Scholarly Communication, Cambridge. “From Thesis to Monograph.” YouTube, 24 April 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIS_wC9syrY.

Pacion, Kelee. “Research Guides: WRI101 Into the Deep Past: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources.” Princeton University Library, 19 December 2023. https://libguides.princeton.edu/c.php?g=978573&p=7076239.

Ph.D, Courtney Watson. “Is a Dissertation Peer Reviewed?” My Dissertation Editor, 16 May 2021. https://mydissertationeditor.com/is-a-dissertation-peer-reviewed/.

Plouffe, Jim. “State Library of South Australia Begins to Archive COVID-19 | Mortlock Wing Photo by Vlad Kutepov.” The Lead South Australia, 20 May 2020. https://theleadsouthaustralia.com.au/industries/education/state-library-of-south-australia-begins-to-archive-covid-19/.

Prediger, Susanne, and David Wagner. “Editorial: Single-Blind or Double-Blind Review Processes?” Educational Studies in Mathematics 111.1 (2022): 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-022-10171-3.

Rele, Shilpa, Marie Kennedy, and Nataly Blas. “Journal Evaluation Tool.” LMU Librarian Publications & Presentations (2017). https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/librarian_pubs/40.

Serlin, Yonatan, Jeffrey Minuk, and Ronald Schondorf. “Neurological Impairments in a Patient Returning From Cuba.” JAMA Neurology 77.12 (2020): 1570–71. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2020.3193.

Sewell, Clare. “How Do I Know If an Article or Book Is Scholarly? – LibAnswers.” Cambridge LibAnswers, 22 March 2023. https://answers.libraries.cam.ac.uk/faq/96116.

Stevens, Jackie. “University Library: Grey Literature: Conference Proceedings.” University of Notre Dame Australia Library, 7 February 2024. https://library.nd.edu.au/instruction/greyliterature/conference.

veritas et caritas. “How Do I Check a Source for Accuracy?” YouTube, 10 November 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ydu18-vPAto.

Viera, Charles. “Primary Sources vs. Secondary Sources vs. Tertiary Sources: What’s the Difference? | AJE.” AJE, 28 December 2023. https://www.aje.com/arc/primary-secondary-tertiary-sources/.

Webster, Charles. “New Light on the Invisible College the Social Relations of English Science in the Mid-Seventeenth Century.” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 24 (1974): 19–42. https://doi.org/10.2307/3678930.

“2.1.6 Decide What Sources You Need.” Notre Dame University Australia, 19 February 2020. https://www.notredame.edu.au/staff/teach/curriculum-and-assessment/academic-integrity/aim-pt2/sl12kb/3v17he.

“Mercer University Libraries.” Mercer University Libraries, n.d. https://libraries.mercer.edu/.

“Primary & Secondary Sources.” UCLA History Department, 2019. https://history.ucla.edu/primary-secondary-sources/.

“Primary and Secondary Sources.” UNSW Library, 7 January 2024. https://www.library.unsw.edu.au/using-the-library/information-resources/primary-and-secondary-sources.

“Retraction Watch.” Retraction Watch, 23 February 2024. https://retractionwatch.com/.

“Retraction Watch Database.” Retraction Watch Database, n.d. http://retractiondatabase.org/RetractionSearch.aspx?

“Selecting Sources: Tertiary, Secondary, Primary | Citizen U Primary Source Nexus.” Primary Source Nexus, 20 November 2014. https://primarysourcenexus.org/2014/11/selecting-primary-sources-tertiary-secondary-primary/.

“Thesis Types – Collection of Articles and Monograph – PhD – Kunnskapsbasen – NTNU,” n.d. https://i.ntnu.no/wiki/-/wiki/English/Thesis+types+-+Collection+of+articles+and+monograph+-+PhD.

“Using Sources: Creating a Digital Annotated Bibliography | Citizen U Primary Source Nexus.” Primary Source Nexus, 11 December 2014. https://primarysourcenexus.org/2014/12/using-sources-creating-digital-annotated-bibliography/.

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