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#Energy, Manufacturing, and Trades Management

This research guide is designed to help Bachelor of Applied Science students complete information research tasks.

Types of Articles

Look closely at the descriptions of the various database collections to determine the information types and subject areas to be found. 

Credible sources from popular mainstream publications are within the database collections. Major news outlets, trade publications, governmental documents are a few of the information types you will find. 

Background and overview source types are helpful. Encyclopedias and other reference materials help researchers find context within an area of research. 

There are two main types of scholarly articles you'll come across in the databases: literature reviews and empirical studies. Both may be scholarly, peer-reviewed sources, but empirical studies are primary sources that report on the results of a study.

 

Literature Review vs Empirical Study

Literature Review

 Empirical Study
Evaluates or condenses previously-published material. Reports on new, original research.

Look for:

  • Summarizing previously-published content.
  • Defining or clarifying an issue.
  • Identifying and explaining a problem.
  • Suggesting next steps of future research.

 

View example below.

Look for:

  • Abstract
  • Methodology
    • Participants/Subjects, Instruments, etc may be mentioned.
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • Conclusion

View example below.

 

Examples

Literature Review: this article was peer-reviewed, but it is a literature review. Notice that the subheadings used describe the topic of those sections rather than a portion of the experimental process. 

Sample first 2 pages of a literature review published in a journal

Newberg, A. B. (2011). Spirituality and the aging brain. Generations, 35(2), 83-91. [See the full article.]

Empirical Study: This peer-reviewed study clearly lists (in the abstract and throughout the paper) the intentions of the study, the methods, the results, and the conclusions.

Not pictured here: even though this is a report of original research, the authors still had a length list of References that used to support their research, just as a literature review would include a lengthy list of papers. Scholarship is a conversation!

Sample of 2 pages of an empirical study

Semiz, U. M., Basoglu, C., Ebrinc, S., & Cetin, M. (2008). Nightmare disorder, dream anxiety, and subjective sleep quality in patients with borderline personality disorder. Psychiatry & Clinical Neurosciences, 62(1), 48-55. [See the full article.]