Scholarly vs. Popular sources
"Scholarly" and "popular" are terms used to describe a source's content, purpose, audience and more. Popular sources are useful for getting ideas for a topic or for background and anecdotal information. Typically, however, you should support your arguments by citing scholarly articles, which contain original research written by experts. Ask your instructor if you're unsure about citing a source.
Major differences:
Scholarly |
Popular |
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Format |
Journals | Magazines, newspapers |
Content |
Original research and inquiry | General interest stories and opinion pieces; may refer to research studies, but do not contain original research |
Purpose |
Share research results and expand knowledge base in a discipline | News, entertainment, and general information; advertising and profit |
Audience |
Professors, researchers, professionals, experts, students | General public |
Language |
Scholarly or technical language; often require prior knowledge of theory, issues, and jargon | Easily understood language; does not require special knowledge |
Author |
Experts in the field; name, credentials, and affiliations are provided | Journalists or professional writers who usually are not experts or specialists on the topic. Sometimes no author or credentials are given |
Peer review |
Usually. Articles are evaluated by other experts in the field; emphasize trustworthiness, validity, and authenticity (more about peer review) | No |
Citations |
Yes. Cite other sources in text and give full citations/references in footnotes or a bibliography at the end | No. May refer to other sources but rarely give full citations; no bibliography |
Article structure |
Include explicitly labeled, discrete parts such as an abstract (article summary) and references (the bibliography). May also include an introduction, background, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, conclusion, notes, appendices and more | Highly variable structure. May have discrete, titled subsections, but they will unlikely be labeled "Introduction," "Conclusion," etc. Do not have abstracts or bibliographies |
Appearance |
Serious and simple; often only in black and white | Glossy, full-color pages; high-impact images and design; full-page ads |
Images |
Sometimes. May contain charts, diagrams and tables; photography is rare outside of art, architecture, and archeology journals | Yes. Heavily illustrated with lots of photos |
Advertise- ments |
Rarely. If so, they are small and discreet, often text only (no images) | Yes. A significant portion of an issue is allocated to ads |
Length |
Longer, though variable. Usually 10-30 pages | Shorter. A couple hundred words to a few pages |
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Searching in article databases? Many allow you to limit your results to only scholarly sources. Also, when you look at an article online, there are no glossy pages or ads to help you determine whether it's scholarly or popular. Look for abstracts and bibliographies instead.
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Teaching and Learning Office