World Literature: English 2110: Scholary or Popular?

What is the difference between articles found through library databases and articles found on the web?

• Library databases are evaluated by subject experts and many of the articles come from peer-reviewed journals.
• Web sites can be created by any one and the information may be hard to evaluate or verify. See Evaluating Information Found on the Internet for more information.
  

Here are some elements to help you determine that a book is a scholarly source:

1. Author- Is the author affiliated with an academic institution? Professors are often experts in their field.
2. Publisher- Is the publisher a university press such as Oxford University Press? University presses usually publish scholarly works.
3. Bibliography & Index- Does the book have an extensive bibliography (works cited) and index?
4. Content of the book- is the content scholarly, up to date and correct?
5. Finally, go find the book- look at the table of contents, sources included, and decide if this is the right source for your paper. It's up to you to decide!

Periodical is a term used to describe any publication that is published multiple times (periodically). Periodicals include materials such as popular magazines, scholarly journals, and newspapers.

It is important to understand the difference between a popular and a scholarly periodical. When you are doing research, most of your sources should be scholarly.

Often popular periodicals are called magazines and scholarly periodicals are called journals. Many times it will be acceptable to use some popular material, but research papers should not be based solely on popular literature.

Criteria	Popular Magazine	Trade Journal	Scholarly Journal
Example
Content	Secondary discussion of someone else's research; may include personal narrative or opinion; general information, purpose is to entertain or inform.	Current news, trends and products in a specific industry; practical information for professionals working in the field or industry.	In-depth, primary account of original findings written by the researcher(s); very specific information, with the goal of scholarly communication.
Author	Author is frequently a journalist paid to write articles, may or may not have subject expertise.	Author is usually a professional in the field, sometimes a journalist with subject expertise.	Author's credentials are provided; usually a scholar or specialist with subject expertise.
Audience	General public; the interested non-specialist.	Professionals in the field; the interested non-specialist.	Scholars, researchers, and students.
Language	Vocabulary in general usage; easily understandable to most readers.	Specialized terminology or jargon of the field, but not as technical as a scholarly journal.	Specialized terminology or jargon of the field; requires expertise in subject area.
Graphics	Graphs, charts and tables; lots of glossy advertisements and photographs.	Photographs; some graphics and charts; advertisements targeted to professionals in the field.	Graphs, charts, and tables; very few advertisements and photographs.
Layout & Organization	Informal; may include non-standard formatting. May not present supporting evidence or a conclusion.	Informal; articles organized like a journal or a newsletter. Evidence drawn from personal experience or common knowledge.	Structured; includes the article abstract, goals and objectives, methodology, results (evidence), discussion, conclusion, and bibliography.
Accountability	Articles are evaluated by editorial staff, not experts in the field; edited for format and style.	Articles are evaluated by editorial staff who may be experts in the field, not peer-reviewed*; edited for format and style.	Articles are evaluated by peer-reviewers* or referees who are experts in the field; edited for content, format, and style.
References	Rare. Little, if any, information about source materials is given.	Occasional brief bibliographies, but not required.	Required. Quotes and facts are verifiable.
Paging	Each issue begins with page 1.	Each issue generally begins with page 1.	Page numbers are generally consecutive throughout the volume.

Based on Scholarly vs. Popular Materials by Amy VanScoy, NCSU Library