Research Guides: English 102 Composition II / Research: Scholarly or Popular ?

What is this page for?

This page assists with identifying if a source is SCHOLARLY (academic) or POPULAR (usually not academic)

How Library Stuff Works: Scholarly vs Popular Sources (2:06 min.)

Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution from McMaster Libraries

Peer Reviewed (Scholarly) Sources vs. Popular Sources (4:11 min.)

Scholarly and popular sources by Carnegie Vincent Library licensed under CC BY

Peer Review in 3 Minutes

Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution from libncsu

Elements of a scholarly article: an in-depth look

Anatomy of a Scholarly Article
Learn how to read a scholarly article and Identify the parts
Elements of Scholarly Articles
Open Source Tutorial on the parts of a scholarly article. Explore the slideshow by clicking 'Next Slide' on the left to navigate through the pages.

What is a Scholarly source?

How do I find scholarly or academic articles at SVC?

Many of the SVC databases provide scholarly or academic articles.

Results will be clearly labeled and/or include an icon that identifies an article as "Academic".
They will also be written in a scholarly format in language use and style, and come from publications that identify as scholarly or academic sources. (see more details on this page)

How do I find popular articles at SVC?

Many of the SVC databases provide scholarly or academic articles.

Results will be clearly labeled and/or include an icon that identifies an article as coming from a magazine or a trade publication.
They will also be written in more informal format in language use and style, and come from publications that do not identify as academic or scholarly (see more details on this page)

Scholarly, Popular, or Trade?

Different types of publications have different purposes and different audiences. When we talk about periodicals, we can usually divide these publications into three broad categories: scholarly, popular, and trade publications.

	Scholarly Journals	Popular Magazines	Trade Journals
Purpose	Informs and reports on original research done by scholars and experts in the field. Published by professional organizations, university presses, and research institutes.	Entertains and informs a general audience without providing in-depth analysis. Published by commercial presses.	Reports on industry trends and new products or techniques useful to people in a trade or business. Published by commercial presses or industry associations.
Authors	Articles are written by subject specialists and experts in the field. Reviewed by experts (peer review) not employed by the journal.	Articles are written by journalists, freelance writers, or an editorial staff. No peer-review process.	Articles are written by specialists in a certain field or industry as well as journalists. No peer-review process.
Audience	Intended for a limited audience - researchers, scholars, and experts.	Intended for a broad segment of the population, appealing to a general audience.	Intended for practitioners in a particular profession, business, or industry.
Examples	Journal of Biochemistry American Sociological Review Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly	U.S. News and World Report Reader's Digest Rolling Stone	CMA Today Advertising Age AutoWeek