Scholarly Sources

Scholarly Sources

Goal: to understand the difference between scholarly and popular sources

Instructions: All fields at the University have specilaized scholarly journals that publish articles by experts. Using the Internet, search for the scholarly journals in your field. Make a list of the most influential journals and disucss what characteristics they share with the list below. Then make a list of popular magazines that also publish articles related to your field. Discuss the characteristics they share with the list below.

Distinguishing Between Popular and Scholarly Sources

Periodicals are generally grouped into two categories: Popular Magazines, Scholarly Journals. Many professors require a certain number of scholarly sources in research papers; some require that all material comes from scholarly sources. In some cases deciding what is popular and what is scholarly is easy; in others it is difficult to make the distinction.

If you have any questions about the status of a periodical please ask your professor or a librarian. Here are some general characteristics that apply to popular magazines and scholarly journals. Keep in mind, these are generalities; there are no absolutes. Many of the following characteristics describe print periodicals. Apply the same criteria for magazines and journals retrieved from online databases; keep in mind though, you will not be able to judge the publication in terms of appearance as you would a print publication.

Many electronic periodical databases provide the means to limit a search to either popular or professional/scholarly periodicals. Both EBSCO Academic Search Premier and EBSCO Business Source Elite have the option to limit to peer reviewed or professional periodical.

POPULAR MAGAZINES SCHOLARLY JOURNALS

AUDIENCE General readers Scholars, researchers, professors, students

APPEARANCE Colorful, eye-catching, engaging, lively, slick Serious, stark, plain

ADVERTISEMENTS many, colorful, glossy; the ads keep the price down Few ads; when included are usually for books, and other items related to the focus of the journal

PRICE Inexpensive Expensive

AVAILABILITY Bookstores, newsstands, grocery stores, libraries Libraries; not usually available for single issue purchase

PUBLISHER Commercial publishers University Presses, professional associations, some commercial publishers

AUTHOR Staff writers, journalists, usually not experts, articles are frequently unsigned Professional, experts in the field, credentials given with the article

REFEREED No Yes; Articles go through a Peer Review Program where they are critiqued by other experts in the field before acceptance for publication

PUBLICATION SCHEDULE Most often weekly or monthly Most often quarterly or monthly

CONTENT Non-technical, entertaining, news oriented Original research

FOCUS Informative, introductory information, general, opinions Specific narrow focus defined by the purpose of the publication

LANGUAGE,STYLE Easy to read, engaging Formal language, specialized jargon used, requires prior knowledge of the subject matter, for best comprehension keep a dictionary handy

LENGTH Usually short to medium in length Usually rather lengthy, plus print size tends to be small

ILLUSTRATIONS Heavily illustrated, usually glossy, photographs, eye-catching Few illustrations, little or no color, will include appropriate research oriented tables, charts, and graphs

DOCUMENTATION Very little documentation if any Extensive documentation, bibliographies, footnotes

TIMELINESS Up-to-date Timeliness is not as important; thoroughness, originality, and in-depth coverage/analysis of a topic are more important than being on the cutting edge of a newsworthy topic

WORDS IN TITLES No specific words included or excluded; titles may be cutesy or contain slang Frequently the following words appear in titles: Journal; Bulletin; Review; Research

INDEXES SIRS, Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, WilsonSelect Plus, (Many indexes include both types of periodicals) EBSCO Academic Search Premier , Health Source: Nursing Academic, CINAHL, PsychFirst, Humanities Abstracts (Many indexes include both types of periodicals)

EXAMPLES Time, Newsweek, Psychology Today, Prevention, National Geographic, Smithsonian, Rolling Stone, America, New Yorker, Business Week, Forbes, Fortune, Science News, Ladies Home Journal, Jet, Ebony, Parents, CQ Researcher,etc. American Journal of Nursing, Psychological Reports, Harvard Business Review, JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, RN, Science, Lancet, Journal of Popular Culture, Review of Educational Research, Journal of Nutrition, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Social Work, Family Relations, etc.

	POPULAR MAGAZINES	SCHOLARLY JOURNALS
AUDIENCE	General readers	Scholars, researchers, professors, students
APPEARANCE	Colorful, eye-catching, engaging, lively, slick	Serious, stark, plain
ADVERTISEMENTS	many, colorful, glossy; the ads keep the price down	Few ads; when included are usually for books, and other items related to the focus of the journal
PRICE	Inexpensive	Expensive
AVAILABILITY	Bookstores, newsstands, grocery stores, libraries	Libraries; not usually available for single issue purchase
PUBLISHER	Commercial publishers	University Presses, professional associations, some commercial publishers
AUTHOR	Staff writers, journalists, usually not experts, articles are frequently unsigned	Professional, experts in the field, credentials given with the article
REFEREED	No	Yes; Articles go through a Peer Review Program where they are critiqued by other experts in the field before acceptance for publication
PUBLICATION SCHEDULE	Most often weekly or monthly	Most often quarterly or monthly
CONTENT	Non-technical, entertaining, news oriented	Original research
FOCUS	Informative, introductory information, general, opinions	Specific narrow focus defined by the purpose of the publication
LANGUAGE,STYLE	Easy to read, engaging	Formal language, specialized jargon used, requires prior knowledge of the subject matter, for best comprehension keep a dictionary handy
LENGTH	Usually short to medium in length	Usually rather lengthy, plus print size tends to be small
ILLUSTRATIONS	Heavily illustrated, usually glossy, photographs, eye-catching	Few illustrations, little or no color, will include appropriate research oriented tables, charts, and graphs
DOCUMENTATION	Very little documentation if any	Extensive documentation, bibliographies, footnotes
TIMELINESS	Up-to-date	Timeliness is not as important; thoroughness, originality, and in-depth coverage/analysis of a topic are more important than being on the cutting edge of a newsworthy topic
WORDS IN TITLES	No specific words included or excluded; titles may be cutesy or contain slang	Frequently the following words appear in titles: Journal; Bulletin; Review; Research
INDEXES	SIRS, Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, WilsonSelect Plus, (Many indexes include both types of periodicals)	EBSCO Academic Search Premier , Health Source: Nursing Academic, CINAHL, PsychFirst, Humanities Abstracts (Many indexes include both types of periodicals)
EXAMPLES	Time, Newsweek, Psychology Today, Prevention, National Geographic, Smithsonian, Rolling Stone, America, New Yorker, Business Week, Forbes, Fortune, Science News, Ladies Home Journal, Jet, Ebony, Parents, CQ Researcher,etc.	American Journal of Nursing, Psychological Reports, Harvard Business Review, JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, RN, Science, Lancet, Journal of Popular Culture, Review of Educational Research, Journal of Nutrition, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Social Work, Family Relations, etc.