The BEAM Method: How various sources may be used in a paper
B - Background Sources
Any source used in a paper to provide context or background; cited information is regarded as non-controversial
E - Exhibit Sources
Documents, data, field/lab observations, visual images, or other artifacts/objects that the writer analyzes; particulars from the "exhibit" are evidence within your argument
A - Argument Sources
The conversation of critical views and relevant scholarship that you are joining
Usually argument sources are other scholarly articles or papers
In nursing and sciences, often constitutes the “review of the literature”
M - Method of Theory Sources
References to the theories or methods the writer is employing (sometimes implicit but often explicit)
Fernández, D., & Antolín-Rodríguez, R. (2018). Bathing a premature infant in the intensive care unit: A systematic review. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 42, e52-e57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2018.05.002
