Scholarly vs. Popular Sources

University Library

Learning outcomes

In this presentation, you’ll learn:• How to define scholarly sources.• Ways to identify scholarly sources.• How to define popular sources.• Ways to identify popular sources.

What does a popular magazine look like?

• Many ads• Photographs, illustrations• Broad focus

• Examples:o National Geographico Peopleo Time

What does a scholarly journal look like?

• Few ads• Charts and tables• Often a specific focus

• Examples:o American Journal of Nursingo Critical Care Nursingo Urologic Nursing

What does a popular article look like?

• Easy-to-understand language• Few or no references• Photographs and illustrations

What does a scholarly article look like?

• Technical language• Lots of references• Charts and tables

• To entertain• To express an opinion• To inform a broad audience

Why are popular articles published?

• To report on research• To review and critique previous research• To contribute to the scholarly conversation

Why are scholarly articles published?

When should you use popular articles?

• Only use them in an assignment when a professor explicitly says you can.

• When you know nothing about a topic, this can be a good place to start.

• When you’re reading for entertainment.

When should you use scholarly articles?

• To support an argument in a research assignment.

• To delve deeper into a topic of interest or research.

• To check to see if popular articles are reporting the scholarly article correctly.

Summary

• Scholarly and popular sources are both good for different things.

• It’s important to know the difference between them so you can include appropriate sources in papers.

Questions?

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http://libanswers.roseman.edu