Current events are topics that are currently of interest or importance. They can be about a wide range of topics, such as world politics and economics, national news, celebrity gossip, and local issues like weather and traffic. The articles in these resources may include interviews, opinions, narratives, and investigative reporting. They are usually written for a general audience and are not peer reviewed. Use these sources when you need very recent information, lived experiences, facts and descriptions or a primary source on a topic.
Information about a current event is published quickly in newspaper, magazine and online news sources. Often the first paragraph of a story will tell you the “who, what, when, where, why and how” of a topic. This is called AP style and it’s standard across journalism.
Scholarly sources take longer to research, write and publish. They are more likely to provide context, historical perspective and evidence-based research. Use these sources when you want to understand why an event happened, find comparisons or contrasts in the event, or analyze the event. See our page on the Information Cycle for more about how long it takes for an article to go from a news source to a scholarly source.
About the Author
