The Research Process - Distinguishing Between Popular & Scholarly Sources

The Research Process: A Step-By-Step Guide

Use the links in the table below to navigate the Step-By-Step Guide.

Preliminary Steps	Gathering Information	Evaluating Information
Choosing a Topic	Books	Scholarly vs. Popular Sources
Background Information	Library Databases	Primary vs. Secondary Sources
Forming a Focus	Web Sites	Evaluating Web Sites

Distinguishing Between Popular & Scholarly Sources

Periodicals

Periodicals are generally grouped into three categories: Popular Magazines , Scholarly/Professional Journals , and Trade Publications . This handout will provide information on differentiating between popular and scholarly periodicals--the two most frequently accessed type of on-going publication in most libraries. Trade publications are those periodicals aimed at members of a trade or industry. A fourth type of periodical are tabloid publications such as the National Enquirer, Star, etc.; these should never be used in research, unless the topic of your paper is tabloid publications.

Many professors require a certain number of scholarly sources in research papers; some require that all sources used come 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. There are some general characteristics which apply to popular magazines and scholarly journals which are indicated in the following chart. 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 o nline databases; keep in mind though, you will not be able to judge the publication in terms of appearance as you would a print publication.

Most library databases provide the means to limit a search to either popular or scholarly periodicals.

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Popular Magazines and Scholarly Journals

CATEGORY	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
AUTHORS	Staff writers, journalists, usually not experts, articles are frequently unsigned	Professional, experts in the field, credentials given with the article
PEER REVIEW	No	Yes; Articles go through a Peer Review Program where they are critiqued by other experts in the field before acceptance for publication
FREQUENCY	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
REFERENCES	Very few references if any	Extensive references, 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
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
DATABASES	SIRS, America's News Magazines (found in Newsbank). Many indexes include both types of periodicals.	EBSCO Academic Search Complete, 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.

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Books

Books will usually fall into either a popular or scholarly category. Many of the same characteristics of periodicals will also be evident in books. Look at the section of this web site on Evaluating Information for some hints on what to look for as you evaluate books for your research paper. In general, though, consider the following questions:

What are the author's credentials? Is he a celebrity or an expert with clearly stated credentials?
Who published the book? A University Press or a publisher traditionally associated with popular sources, ie, Dell Paperbacks or Bantom Books?
Does the book contain footnotes, bibliographic references, appendices, an index, and the like?
What is the tone of the book? Is it research oriented or chatty and sensational?
If you are unsure of the status of a book, ask your professor or librarian, or you may wish to look for a book review in Book Review Digest or a periodical database.

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