Are all sources created equal?

Article: A brief piece of writing – generally between 1 and 35 pages in length - included with others in a journal, magazine, trade publication, or newspaper.

Book: A relatively lengthy work, often on a single topic. May be print or electronic.

Documentary film: A non-fiction motion picture intended to document reality for the educational purposes or to maintain a historical record.

Encyclopedia: Books with authoritative summary information about a variety of topics in the form of short essays, usually arranged alphabetically.

Journal: A publication, issued on a regular basis, which contains scholarly research published as articles, papers, research reports, or technical reports.

Magazine A publication, issued on a regular basis, containing popular articles, written and illustrated in a less technical manner than the articles found in a journal. Used to describe information sources that are not scholarly or peer-reviewed.

Newspaper: A publication containing information about varied topics that are pertinent to general information, a geographic area, or a specific subject matter (i.e. business, culture, education). Often published daily.

Peer-review: The process through which some scholarly articles go through prior to publication in a journal. Authors submit articles to a journal and the article is reviewed by experts in the field. Suggestions about the article are sent to the author for revision. This process continues until the experts deem the article acceptable for publication.

Periodical: An information source published in multiple parts at regular intervals (daily, weekly, monthly, biannually). Journals, magazines, and newspapers are all periodicals.

Website: A group of related web pages located under a single domain name, typically produced by a person or organization.