Information Cycle

The publication timeline for information is important because the currency of an essay topic may impact the types of sources you will be able to locate. For example, if you are trying to find out about a particular event that happened last week, you will not find peer-reviewed articles about it because there has not been sufficient time for research, study, writing, and the peer-review process. Books are also not published in one week. You will only find print articles in magazines, newspapers, or online news websites, blogs, etc. if an event has occurred recently.

However, there are ways you can incorporate peer-reviewed journal articles in your research of a recent event.  Although you won't be able to find a peer-reviewed article about a particular wildfire that was burning last month, you might be able to locate peer-reviewed articles that examine similar fires that occurred in the past.  You can apply what you learned about similar wildfires to the recent event. 

Here are some links that will explain the information cycle.