How Do I . . . Know This Article is Scholarly?
Why is it important to be able to distinguish between popular and scholarly articles?
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Articles from periodicals (i.e., magazines and/or journals) are used in research papers and projects.
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Instructors often specify that scholarly articles must be used as resources.
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Being able to recognize the difference between a popular or scholarly article allows you to determine the article's degree of authority and depth.
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A third type of periodical, the Gray or Trade periodical, has characteristics of both popular and scholarly works. The "acceptibility" of these resources for papers and projects varies by discipline and by instructor.
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| Short articles (1-5 pages) |
Short or long articles |
Long articles (5+ pages) |
| Articles do not have a bibliography or footnotes |
May or may not have a bibliography or footnotes |
Articles always have
footnotes or bibliography |
| Articles may be anonymous |
Articles may be anonymous or list authors |
Articles always list authors; author's professional credentials and affiliations are listed. |
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Use conventional or
conversational vocabulary |
May use conventional or specialized vocabulary |
Use technical or specialized vocabulary |
| Intended for a non-academic, non-specialized audience |
Intended for specific audiences |
Intended for an academic or scholarly audience |
| Report on and summarize research, current events or news |
Report news and commentary, as well as specialized reports |
Report on results of author's experiments, studies or literature reviews |
| Use graphics, illustrations and color photographs for an eye-catching look |
May use graphics, illustrations and tables |
Graphics used only if essential to the information presented and will typically be graphs and tables reporting results |
| Contain numerous advertisements |
May contain advertising that is specialized to the audience |
Contain little or no advertising |