Transcript Scholarly vs Popular Articles

Scholarly & Popular
Articles
Objective: Students will be able to
differentiate between scholarly and popular
articles.
Information can either be…
Scholarly or Popular
When researching a topic, you may be asked to
find both scholarly and popular articles. These
articles will be found in either scholarly journals
or popular magazines depending on the type of
information you are looking for.
Scholarly usually refers to journals
such as
Image taken from http://pubs.acs.org/
action/showLargeCover?issue=33036239
Image taken from http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/
295/15/1860.full
Scholarly journal articles have the
following characteristics:
• They are written by someone who is an expert or
has done research on the subject
• They are written for scholars
• They do not have many pictures, but may include
tables and graphs
• They often include abstract and citation
information
• References or a bibliography are usually included
at the end of the article.
Popular usually refers to magazines
such as
Image taken from
http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,1101110131,00.html
Image taken from http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/
2010/4/4/saupload_040717_cover.jpg
Popular magazine articles have the
following characteristics:
• Written for the general public
• Written by a journalist or reporter
• Contain extensive advertising, graphics, and
photographs
• Published daily, weekly, or monthly
• Rarely include references or citations
• Include current events, trends, opinions and
topics of popular interest
Comparing Scholarly Journal & Popular
Magazine Articles
Scholarly Journal Articles
Popular Magazine Articles
Written FOR scholars in a specific
subject area
Written FOR general public
Written BY an expert or researcher;
i.e. an artist, historian, doctor,
educator
Written BY a journalist, celebrity,
general person
Very little advertising; graphics
specialized, if any
Many advertisements and
photographs
Reading level is advanced; use
specialized vocabulary
Reading level is very basic for
general population
Published quarterly or bi-monthly,
usually
Published weekly or monthly
Comparing Scholarly Journals &
Popular Magazines—cont.
Scholarly Journal Articles
Popular Magazine Articles
Include references to sources,
bibliographies, full citations (at end of
article)
Rarely include references,
bibliographies, or citations
Indexed in specialized databases such
as ERIC (education articles)
Indexed in general databases such as
Reader’s Guide or SIRS
Discuss specific topics in a scholarly
subject
Include current events, trends, opinions
and popular interest topics
Often include an abstract or brief
summary of the article to inform the
reader
Often include inviting title and subtitles
to encourage reading the article
Approved for publication by a group of
specialists in the same field of interest;
this is called “peer reviewed”
Approved for publication by the
magazine’s editors.
“Peer Reviewed”
• A peer reviewed article has been reviewed for
publication by a group of experts. These
experts are called “peers” and are highly
specialized professionals or scholars in that
field of expertise.
• Many articles in scholarly journals, but not all,
have been peer reviewed.
You can access many popular and
scholarly articles through the
databases on “Pioneer” such as SIRS
and EBSCO.
It is possible to limit to scholarly/peer-reviewed journals
in some databases, but keep in mind that not all of the
articles found using this limiter are scholarly and/or peerreviewed.
Summing Up
Both scholarly and popular articles can be used
in research, but be aware of the characteristics
and quality of each.