6.4 – Popular vs. Scholarly Sources
Learning Objectives
By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to:
- articulate the differences between popular and scholarly periodicals,
- use these differences to help identify whether or not an article is popular or scholarly when doing a research assignment for class.
What is a Periodical?:
Watch Part one: What is a periodical? on YouTube (3 mins)
Popular vs. Scholarly # 1
Popular vs. Scholarly # 1 (Text version)
Which of the following is NOT an example of a periodical?
- The Toronto Star
- Anne of Green Gables
- Maclean’s Magazine
- The Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Check your Answer: [1]
Popular vs. Scholarly Periodicals:
Watch Part two: Popular VS. scholarly periodicals on YouTube (2 mins)
Popular vs. Scholarly # 2
Popular vs. Scholarly # 2 (Text version)
Scholarly periodicals are …
- Written by journalists, use common language, and do not rely on advertising dollars.
- Written by scholars, use complex language, and do not rely on advertising dollars.
- Written by freelance writers, use complex language, and rely on advertising dollars.
Check your Answer: [2]
Finding Scholarly Articles:
Watch Part three: Finding scholarly articles on YouTube (4 mins)
Popular vs. Scholarly # 3
Popular vs. Scholarly # 3 (Text version)
This type of periodical article can often be found in publications with one or more of these words in its title: Journal, Research, Review or Studies?
- Scholarly article
- Popular article
Check your Answer: [3]
Questions?
Contact your library for help!
Attributions & References
This chapter (text, H5P activities and embedded videos) was reused from “Popular vs. Scholarly Sources” In Niagara College Libraries + Learning Commons Information Skills Online Handbook by Jackie Chambers Page and Siscoe Boschman, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
