Slide 1 Scholarly vs Popular Sources Scholarly vs Popular Sources Part of the InfoRhode Tutorial Series University of Rhode Island Libraries Slide 2 In some cases, your professors will require you to use a scholarly source for your research. Scholarly sources, which are also referred to as peer- reviewed or refereed sources, provide a very solid basis for your own research. The term scholarly originates from the idea that these articles are written by scholars in a field, for scholars in a field. Sometimes scholarly articles are called peer- reviewed because they are also reviewed by other scholars in the field, who are deeply familiar with the topics being researched. Slide 3 This is different from much of the information we encounter, which is generally popular - meant for the general public. Scholarly vs Popular Sources InfoRhode Tutorial 1
Slide 4 Some examples of popular sources you have probably seen are weekly news magazines, such as Time and Newsweek. Slide 5 Articles from popular sources are generally written by reporters, and the articles tend to be short - less than 3 pages. Slide 6 There may be interesting photographs or illustrations in the text, but they may not be a critically important part of the article. Scholarly vs Popular Sources InfoRhode Tutorial 2
Slide 7 When you get to the end of the article... Slide 8 there is no bibliography to show that the author did research to write the article. Slide 9 Here s an example of a scholarly article. Scholarly vs Popular Sources InfoRhode Tutorial 3
Slide 10 Scholarly articles are much longer - usually at least 3 pages - and they can even be as long as 20, 50, or more pages. If there are any images or illustrations, they support the content of the article. You might find a variety of charts and graphs. Slide 11 Scholarly journal titles are more descriptive than popular titles - they generally incorporate the name of the discipline in the title. For example, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, or Shakespeare Quarterly. (Watch out for things that have the word journal in the title that aren t technically journals. Examples of those impostors are the Providence Journal and the Wall Street Journal.) Slide 12 The authors of scholarly articles, as mentioned before, are scholars, and their research affiliations are usually listed clearly on the first page of the article. Sometimes, though, they are listed at the end. These authors are researchers at a university. Scholarly vs Popular Sources InfoRhode Tutorial 4
Slide 13 Most of the time, scholarly article titles are long and descriptive. While some might have a catchy or informal portion, the titles do include specifics about the article. Slide 14 Scholarly articles tend to have abstracts at the beginning as well. Researchers are busy people, and the abstract or summary at the beginning helps them determine whether the article is relevant to their research - or not. Slide 15 Science and social science research articles generally contain detailed information about the research done, including the methods used, the results, and a discussion. Humanities research articles have a more narrative style, and are not likely to have charts and graphs. Here we see the start of the Methodology section of an article, and a chart. Scholarly vs Popular Sources InfoRhode Tutorial 5
Slide 16 Slide 17 Scholarly articles have extensive footnotes or bibliographies that describe exactly where the researchers found the information that they based their research on. You can use these to find more information on the topic, if you need it. Slide 18 These are some clues to help you determine whether something is scholarly. If you need assistance or more tips, please feel free to ask a librarian. Scholarly vs Popular Sources InfoRhode Tutorial 6