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Characteristics |
Scholarly Sources |
Professional or Trade Sources |
Popular Sources |
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Examples |
American Journal of Psychology Journal of the American Medical Association Nature African Journal of Ecology |
Advertising Age Education Week Supply and Demand Chain Executive Health Insurance Underwriter Magazine Beverage Industry Magazine |
Psychology Today National Geographic Seattle Times TV news broadcasts (local news stations like KING 5, national news like CNN, MSNBC, etc.) Blogs, YouTube videos, personal websites |
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Audience |
Scholars, researchers, and students |
Other members of the profession or trade |
General audience, all readers |
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Authors |
Scholars, researchers, and experts in the field of study Author's credentials in the field are established (e.g., institutional affiliation, maybe degrees) |
Members of the profession or trade, specialized journalists, or technical writers Credentials are usually not provided |
Reporters/journalists, usually not experts on the subject Authors may not have special qualifications for writing article; credentials are usually not provided For personal blogs and social media accounts, authors may include as much or as little information as they like |
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Bibliography/ References |
Sources cited in footnotes and/or bibliography Usually extensive list of references |
Documentation of sources is not required, though sometimes brief bibliographies of further readings are included |
Sources are not cited or cited informally Often rely on quotes for experts or witnesses for evidence No reference list provided |
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Language and Writing Style |
Field-specific language/jargon; requires reader to be previously informed about field. |
Include jargon and terms that are commonly used in the profession or trade |
Written in everyday language accessible to any general reader |
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Purpose |
To report results of original research, experimentation or analysis |
Provide practical information for members of a profession or industry, including topics like news, trends, products, and research summaries |
Provide broad, general information and entertainment Secondary but not "original" research (the author didn’t conduct the actual lab work, math, or theoretical analysis.) |
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Appearance |
Dense text-based pages May contain complicated graphs or charts Usually will not include color glossy pages or photographs Very little advertising, if any |
Moderate number of advertisements targeted to the interests of the members of a profession, industry, or organization |
Attractive appearance (often colorful) Advertisements Heavily illustrated Generally short in length |
1. Is it a scholarly source, trade source, or popular source?
2. What evidence did you use to decide that?
3. What research question might you use this source in answering?
4. What format is your source?
5. Did you consider any of the criteria from this list?
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