How can you find information that is up-to-date?

This is a difficult problem for all researchers. There is hardly anything less interesting than research that ignores the most recent work on a question or developments in a field.

Fortunately, the kinds of published materials in a field correspond to the development of the field itself.

Think about how periodicals, such as newspapers, magazines, and journals, fit into the Chain of Information.

Consider the following overly-simplified chain of circumstances:

1.      An event happens.

2.      It is reported in newspapers the next day.

3.      It appears in magazines the next week.

4.      It is discussed in magazines and newspapers over the next few months.

5.      Someone writes a popular book a few weeks or months later, based on reports in newspapers and magazines and on other historical research, that aims to tell what happened.

6.      Several years later, someone else writes a journal article that examines the causes of the event and its historical significance.

7.      As months and years pass, other people write other journal articles in response, looking for other causes, and arguing about the significance of the event.

8.      Sooner or later, someone who has read most of the articles and books published up to that point writes a scholarly book that establishes a favored interpretation of the event.

This chain, which has been vastly oversimplified, could continue ad infinitum. In reality, chains like this one double back, and many strands of the chain are linked and cross one another to form a network of claims and interpretations.

Furthermore, each point in the narrative actually represents a multiplicity of events. For example, newspaper accounts of the event may number in the hundreds or even thousands, depending on its perceived importance.

And this narrative ignores television, radio, and other non-print media!

This narrative demonstrates how periodicals--newspapers, magazines, and journals--solve the problem of finding up-to-date information.

Newspapers are a primary source of daily, "objective," detailed reports of current events.

Magazines are another source of up-to-date information and analysis. Generally speaking, magazine reports are not as detailed as newspaper accounts. However, magazines have the advantage of distance from the events, and so may effectively summarize a number of events and issues.

Journals are up-to-date in another sense. They usually don't include reports of recent events. However, journals are essential as a source of up-to-date research developments in a field.

However, because there are so many periodicals, finding just those articles in them related to your question can be a big problem.