How do you tell the difference between a scholarly article and a popular article?

Your professor says that you have to have scholarly journal articles for your research project.

Let’s look at what scholarly journals are and what popular magazines are ~and then the differences between the two!

Scholarly Journals

• Definitions J ournal articles that are written by experts or authorities in a professional or academic field to report their research or scholarly opinion of a topic. Often called peer reviewed or refereed because referees in the subject area review and evaluate the article before accepting it for publication. • When to use an article from a scholarly journal?

- For doing most college research - For finding out what has been researched and studied on your topic

Magazines

• Definition: A magazine is a periodical written for the general public to inform and entertain. This is what you buy in the grocery store, drug store, etc.

Often referred to as popular magazines.

• When to use an article from a popular magazine: – for a general understanding of a topic – for information on popular culture and hot topics – for general articles on topics written for the general public for information or entertainment

Scholarly articles vs. Popular articles ~ the differences:

•

Authors: Scholarly –

experts or authorities in professional or academic fields

Popular

– staff or freelance writers, often unsigned •

Purpose: Scholarly –

to report original research and research findings

Popular

– to entertain or inform in a general way; not original research

Scholarly articles vs. Popular articles ~ the differences

•

Intended Audience: Scholarly –

scholars, researchers, practitioners in an academic or professional field

Popular

– general audience •

Language: Scholarly –

technical jargon of the subject area

Popular

– simple language that anyone could read

Scholarly articles vs. Popular articles ~ the differences:

•

Documentation of sources used: Scholarly Popular –

includes references and bibliography of resources used – Does not give references to where information was obtained but may mention research or researcher’s findings •

Editing: Scholarly Popular –

goes through a peer review process before accepted for publication and often referred to as peer reviewed or refereed.

– edited by magazine editors for readability and suitability for the magazine’s purpose

Scholarly articles vs. Popular articles ~ the differences

•

Illustrations: Scholarly –

sparsely illustrated with charts, diagrams or appropriate photographs related to the research and has advertisements that appeal to professionals in the field

Popular

– heavily illustrated with glossy covers and pictures and contains a lot of advertisements for the general public So, how can you tell whether an article is scholarly or popular in a database?

Most databases will give you the option of limiting your search to: Peer reviewed For example, in InfoTrac OneFile this is how you limit to peer reviewed articles:

• Check the box for limiting to peer reviewed publications. The database will limit the search for you.

• Results of InfoTrac search:

This is a peer-reviewed search in PsycINFO, an Ebsco database:

Results of the PsycINFO search: Any questions? Ask a Librarian!