Before you find a potential topic, you will want to determine the types of information required to meet your research needs.

• Do you need primary or secondary sources, or a combination of both?
• What are popular resources and are they appropriate to use in academic research?
• Are you required to have peer-reviewed journal articles, or are scholarly articles sufficient?
• Where is the best place to look for different types of information, from clinical studies to statistics?
• How can ‘grey literature be useful?’
• When should you consider searching outside the library’s databases for research resources?

Continue reading the information below and in the sub-pages to learn about different types of information, and when you should be using each type.