Popular and Scholarly Sources (Handout)
In this tutorial, you’ll learn:
 the differences between scholarly and popular sources as well as
 tips on when to use each type of source.
What is the Difference Between Scholarly and Popular Sources?
The first major difference between the two is the intended audience for each type
of source. Popular magazines are written with a general audience in mind;
popular articles are written so that no specialized knowledge is required to
understand the article. Overall, you can think of popular magazines as those that
you can find in a bookstore or grocery store.
On the other hand, scholarly journals are intended for individuals with specialized
knowledge of a field, such as a researcher working in the field or a student who is
studying the field. The authors assume that individuals reading the journal
already have some knowledge of the subject matter. Scholarly journals are
generally available by subscription only.
In addition to differences in the intended audience, popular and scholarly sources
also vary in terms of their purpose, who writes the articles, and who reviews the
articles.
Purpose
Author
Review/Editor
Popular Articles
Broadly cover current
issues and research
Journalists, or other
generalists without
specialized knowledge
Magazine/newspaper
editor
Scholarly Articles
Report current research
and findings, including
details about method and
findings
Researchers and experts
in the field
Researchers and experts
in the field, or “peers”
For popular articles, the purpose is to broadly cover current issues and research.
These articles are usually written by journalists or other generalists without
specialized knowledge of the field, and the articles are then reviewed by the
magazine’s editor – another generalist.
On the other hand, scholarly articles report current research and findings in a
field of study, and include details about the methods used in a study and the data
obtained from that study. The articles are written by researchers and experts in
the field, which are then reviewed by other experts in the field to ensure the
quality and reliability of the article and reported results. This review process is
called peer-review, and it is done anonymously – the individuals reviewing the
article do not know who wrote the paper, and when the author receives
comments from the review process he or she does not know who made the
comments.
As a results of these differences in audience and purpose, the same information
may appear in both popular and scholarly sources but be reported very
differently. For example, if a study found a vaccine against breast cancer, an
article reporting the study in a scholarly journal would contain information about
the methods used to test the vaccine, as well as reporting much of the data
obtained in the study. Articles in popular sources would report general
information about this study and report the vaccine’s overall effectiveness.
Identifying Popular and Scholarly Articles:
Now that you understand the difference between popular and scholarly articles,
how do you identify them? Especially when you’re facing a search results screen,
where popular and scholarly articles aren’t labeled differently?
There are a few indicators you can use to identify whether an article is scholarly
or popular when faced with results in a database:
 Article length is one indicator; popular articles tend to be shorter, usually
five pages or less. Scholarly articles tend to be longer because they
involve detailed descriptions of the methods used and discussion of the
results.
 The presence of cited sources is a good indicator that it’s a scholarly
article.
 Finally, the publication date can also help you decide whether an article is
popular or scholarly. Because scholarly journals go through the peer
review process, they are published less frequently than popular sources.
As a result, scholarly journals are usually published monthly or quarterly,
while popular magazines can be published weekly or monthly; if an actual
day (not just a month) of publication is provided in the citation, the article
is usually popular.
If you can look at the abstract or full text of an article online, there are additional
indicators you can look for:
 If information about the university or research institute the author works for
is provided, then it’s a scholarly article.
 If there’s a section about the methods used, then it’s a scholarly article.
 Sometimes scholarly articles will even have revision dates listed; while
they are not present in all scholarly articles, if the information is there, it’s
definitely a scholarly article.
Deciding Whether to use Popular or Scholarly Articles:
If your instructor says you need to use scholarly sources, then the decision on
whether to use popular or scholarly sources has already been made for you.
However, your instructor may require only a few scholarly sources or may not
specify what kind of sources you need. In this case, you will need to decide
whether to use popular or scholarly articles.
You can use popular articles to:
 Get a broad overview of a complex topic, particularly when you are not
familiar with the subject area.
 Get an idea of the popular perspective on a topic.
 Get an idea of what is currently being written on a topic.
 Find editorials and opinion pieces.
In contrast, you can use scholarly articles to:
 Find the latest research results.
 Check the accuracy of data or statistics you find elsewhere.
 Review the important research on a specific topic or theme.
How to Search for Popular and Scholarly Articles:
So, know that you know how to identify scholarly and popular articles as well as
when you might want to use each type, how do you do search for each type?
It’s easier to restrict your search to only scholarly articles, instead of only popular
articles. Most databases will have a limiter that restricts your search results to
scholarly, sometimes referred to as peer-reviewed, journal articles. It’s important
to note that using this limiter restricts the search results based on information at
the journal-level; some articles in scholarly journals are not peer-reviewed, such
as editorials, book reviews, and short news items.
You can also use publication type or document type limiters to target your
search. If you’re searching for scholarly articles, you can look for types such as
clinical trial, case study, or other types of scholarly studies. Limiting by
publication type or document type is also useful if you are looking for a particular
type of popular article, such as an editorial, book review, or interview.
Summary:
In this tutorial on popular and scholarly sources, you learned
 the differences between scholarly and popular sources as well as
 tips on when to use each type of source and how to find each type.
Questions? Problems?
http://www.lib.utsystem.edu/students/ask.html