FCST 1010 - Edenfield (Floyd) - Spring 2018: Sources - Scholarly vs Popular

Thanks to the University of Delaware Library for the infographic!

Journals, magazines, and newspapers can be divided into four basic categories (ranked here from most reliable to least reliable):

1. Scholarly

2. General Interest / Substantive News

3. Popular

4. Sensational

Think about it - if you were preparing a presentation on political parties, would you trust The Journal of Political Science or the local supermarket tabloid with aliens from Mars on the cover? That's the difference between scholarly and sensational!

SCHOLARLY journal articles are written by academic researchers. Often scholarly journals require articles to be reviewed by other experts or scholars in the same field who must agree that the article in question meets the standards of that profession in a proces called PEER REVIEW. This ensures that the content of the article is as valid and reliable as possible.

So how do you tell if a journal is scholarly? 

• Look for an abstract.
• Look for complete citations (Bibliography or Works Cited list.)
• Check to see if the author has a degree in the subject.
• Try checking the "Peer Reviewed" box in GALILEO! Don't forget the library databases allow you to modify your searches to include only those materials that are peer reviewed!

(More information on the four basic categories can be found here from Cornell University Library.)