Academic Sources
Why Should I Care?
Academics insist on a neutral tone in academic papers and monographs. They usually don't appreciate screaming headlines, aggressive statements, and overly enthusiastic comment. They wish to appear non-partisan, unbiased, independent, and objective. They also avoid using the first person, because it can be used to sway opinion, rather than convince with hard facts.
This lesson has 3 parts
- Peer-Review Process
- Academic Voice
- Parts of the Paper
What is an Academic Source?
An academic source, whether in social science, or in natural science, is a text published in a scholarly peer-reviewed publication, using a formal tone called the Academic Voice. There are many types of academic sources.
Scholarly
A scholar is someone who accumulates knowledge and understanding of a topic. Most scholars are also academics, which means that they are associated to a learning institution, such as a university.
Peer-review
Process by which articles are proof-read by scientists or experts, intent on finding methodological mistakes.
Scholarly/Academic Journal
A periodical published by university scientists/researchers. Usually managed by an association of university researchers across several institutions. The editor of the journal manages the peer-review process.
Scholarly Article
A research paper published in an academic journal, peer-reviewed.
Academic Press
A university book publisher which applies the peer-review process. Ex: McGill-Queen's University Press, University of Toronto Press, Presses de l'Université Laval, Oxford University Press.
Monograph
A book published by an academic press, peer-reviewed. Usually single author.
Edited Book
A book written by multiple authors, and published by an academic press. The editor's name is published on the cover, but they are not necessarily the author of the main chapters. The editor's role is to manage the collection and revision of the chapters.
Theses and Dissertations
Papers published within the university as a requirement for graduation. Master's theses, and Doctoral dissertations are kept in university libraries for future students to reference.
Checking for quality
When you find a source, ask yourself if the document is relevant and reliable.
Relevance
How closely related to your topic is this document? Is it recent? Is it too technical? Can it provide references to find more documents?
Reliability
Is it scholarly? Is the author reputed and credible? Is the methodology stated? Is there a bibliography?
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Peer-Review Process
The peer-review process ensures that science papers are evaluated by experts in the field of study, prior to publication. The process should be double-blind. This means that the author does not know who is reviewing their paper, and the reviewers do not know who the author is.
This is why the paper is submitted with no mention of the author's name or identity in the text, which can be separated from the cover page. The paper is submitted to the journal's editor, who is the only person to know the identities of the author and the reviewers.
The peer-review process is typical of an academic journal, but it is also the case with publishers of academic books, such as Oxford University Press, the McGill-Queen's University Press, or the Presses de l'Université du Québec.
If you are not sure if the journal you are looking into is peer-reviewed. you can consult their website, under the instructions for article submissions.
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Academic Voice
The scientific article is intended for a narrow audience of scientists interested in the same field. However, this does not mean it should be impossible to read by anyone else. Your job is to adopt the jargon and tone expected from the discipline and the level of reading of your readers. At the college level, your paper should aim to be readable by a strong Sec 4 student.
The Basic Rules
Tone is formal, not personal. Popular writers avoid this style because it makes for a less-than-interesting read for their magazine, news and book readers.
Not using the neutral tone of Academic Voice can lead readers to believe you are trying to convince them with rhetoric, and tricks of the tongue, instead of cold-hard facts and implacable arguments. You should master the Academic Voice writing style now because it is expected in university and increases your credibility by convincing readers of your academic integrity and impartiality.
- Don’t use first person. No ‘I’, no ‘We’.
- If you need to refer to yourself, use 'The author' instead of 'I'.
- Don’t tell a story.
- Don’t state anything as a personal opinion.
- Relate the opinions of others.
- Show both sides of the issue.
- Understatement has value. Avoid “awesome” qualifiers that make the story more interesting.
- Don’t use deductive fallacy, or bad logic, even if it sounds convincing. See Critical Thinking.
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Parts of the Paper
It is very useful to know how science papers are organized. This way you can read it quickly, by skipping over sections, and coming back to them later. A science paper usually has six sections:
- Abstract and Introduction
The abstract is a short summary of the paper, including data, method, findings and conclusions. The introduction is an opening set of paragraphs that allow the reader to understand the context of the research, and the organization of the paper. - Literature Review
The literature review presents prior research results, and other facts relevant to the paper. All sources are cited, and referenced. - Methodology
This section presents how the original data in this paper was collected. - Results / Findings
This section presents the analysis of the data collected for this paper. Includes summary tables and graphs. - Discussion / Conclusion
This section discusses the scientific implications of the data analysis, and how this fits in with the prior research. Does this paper contradict, or infirm, other papers? The conclusion speaks to policy implications from this paper. Should something be done about this, given the new data? - References
The references is a list of documents which were cited in the text. The list is organized by alphabetical order of the last name of the first author of each document.
When you first start reading papers, focus on the author's credentials, the abstract and the conclusions. If the document is relevant and reliable, save the document as a PDF on your computer, and make a note about the basic information. You can read the rest later.
If the document is not relevant and reliable, discard and move on.
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