Library:Scholarly versus Popular Sources/Quick Reference 1

Library:Scholarly versus PopularSources/ Quick ReferenceQuick ReferenceThe following outlines the key differences between scholarly, popular and professionalpublications.

Criteria Scholarly Popular Trade/Technical

Advertisements Few ads, usually for publicationservices in the disciplinecovered

Many ads - typically forretail products and services.

Will have advertisementswhich will generally betargeted to professionals inthe field.

Appearance Plain design, black and whitegraphics (print versions),containing charts, graphs, andtables.

Slick design, glossy paper(print versions), with colourpictures, photographs, andillustrations.

Slick design, glossy paper(print versions), withgraphics, photos andillustrations.

Audience Professors, researchers, collegeand university students

General public Professionals in the fieldand possibly interestedamateurs.

Author Written by scholar within anacademic field -i.e., a current researcher at auniversity or research institute.

Written by journalists whomay lack discipline and/orsubject expertise.

Professionals in the field orjournalist with specialistbackground

Language University level, in thespecialized vocabulary of thediscipline covered.No glossaries or list of definedterms - target audience willalready be familiar with thisvocabulary.

Non technical, simplevocabulary accessible to themajority of readers. Onlinepopular sources mayhyperlink unfamiliar termsto dictionary defintions,Wikipedia entries etc.

Specialistjargon/terminology of thefield but likely not astechnical as scholarlyjournals.

Library:Scholarly versus Popular Sources/Quick Reference 2

PeerReviewed/Refereed?

UsuallyJournal Articles: Experts in thefield review articles in mostscholarly journals. Submissionsare not published if they do notpass the scrutiny of thereviewers.MaybeScholarly books: Academicpresses typically employeditorial boards to review thequality, accuracy and validity ofmanuscripts.However, not all editorialboards are comprised of subjectexperts - check board members'affiliation/qualifications todetermine if "peers" are part ofthe review process

NoOnly the magazine editorreviews submitted articles.

NoMay be reviewed by staffeditors with experience inthe field, but no formalpeer-review process.

Publisher Professional organizations,universities, research institutes,scholarly presses and scholarlyunits of commercial enterprises.

Commercial enterprises. Professionalsociety/association;commercial enterprises

Purpose Report on original research,experimentation, methodology,and theory. Refute / supporttheories of other researchers inthe field.

Inform or entertain thereader, sell products, and/orpromote a viewpoint.

Report on the state of aparticular trade or industry -news, trends, products etc.Focus is on information forpractitioners in the field -continuing professionaldevelopment

ResearchDocumentation

Footnotes and bibliographiescite the author's research.

Sources are rarely cited. May have footnotes orbibliographies but notessential practice.

Article Sources and Contributors 3

Article Sources and ContributorsLibrary:Scholarly versus Popular Sources/ Quick Reference  Source: http://wiki.ubc.ca/index.php?oldid=185945  Contributors: JSchatz,ShawnnaParlongo, WikiAdministrator

Image Sources, Licenses andContributorsFile:Scholarlyjournalfake-j.JPG  Source: http://wiki.ubc.ca/index.php?title=File:Scholarlyjournalfake-j.JPG  License: unknown  Contributors:ShawnnaParlongoFile:Popularfake-j.JPG  Source: http://wiki.ubc.ca/index.php?title=File:Popularfake-j.JPG  License: unknown  Contributors: ShawnnaParlongoFile:Tradefake-j.JPG  Source: http://wiki.ubc.ca/index.php?title=File:Tradefake-j.JPG  License: unknown  Contributors: ShawnnaParlongo