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Introduction to Human Resources Research

Types of Sources

On the Library's Human Resources Guide, there is a curated selection of databases and publications that contain information on HR topics. Use this guide as a starting point for researching HR topics.

A few examples of the types of resources you can find via the Human Resources Guide are articles from trade publications, newspapers, and peer-reviewed journals:

Trade Publications

Trade publications (such as the Canadian HR Reporter) provide information on current topics facing a profession or industry. HR trade publications may include articles on trends in HR practices, recent legal cases, and other news of interest to HR professionals.

Newspapers

Newspapers (such as The Globe and Mail and the National Post) publish articles on current topics locally, nationally, or internationally. These may provide a good introduction on current events involving a company, or involving a human resources issue.

Peer Reviewed Journals

Peer-reviewed journals publish scholarly, peer reviewed articles, often presenting original research on a narrowly-focused topic. 'Peer review' means that the article has been reviewed and critically evaluated by other experts in the field, prior to being published. Examples of peer-reviewed journals include Human Resource Management Journal and Personnel Psychology. In additional to publishing peer reviewed articles, these journals may also publish other content, like book reviews and editorials.


Give it a try!

Review the Human Resources Subject Guide, and browse through one of the publications linked on the Articles tab.

Do you see any articles that look interesting?


Review the chart below to learn more about the types of articles available via Seneca Libraries.

Additional Information

To view the video, make sure that you're first signed in to Seneca's LinkedIn Learning subscription.

To learn about scholarly vs. popular publications information, watch this video from LinkedIn Learning. This video gives an overview of scholarly publications and popular publications, and what some of the differences are in content, purpose, etc.

Information Literacy Scholarly vs. popular publications (Video Link)

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