Distinguishing Scholarly from Popular Journals

Periodicals can be classified broadly into several categories: scholarly, trade publications, substantive news and popular. Professors often require that you use scholarly periodicals for your research papers.  Here is a chart to help determine the level of scholarship for a particular periodical.

How to distinguish scholarly from popular in an electronic environment 

	Scholarly	Trade	Substantive News	Popular
Appearance	Appears sober and serious. May have charts or graphs. Few pictures.	←  →	Attractive, glossy ornewspaper  format.	Looks glossy and colorful, with lots of photos and illustrations.
Audience	Targets scholars/ students in a particular field.	Targets professionals.	Aims for a general readership.	Aims for a general readership.
Author	Scholars or researchers often associated with a university.	←   →	Staff writer or scholar or free lance writer	Staff writer or  free lance writer who writes on many topics.
Language	Ranges from plodding and pretentious to lucid.	Jargon or technical language may be used.	Geared to any literate audience.	Simple language.
Purpose	Reports on original research or presents critical analysis.	←    →	Provides general news. Gives brief updates in a specific field.	Entertains reader. Sell products.  Promotes a viewpoint.
Sources Cited	Always cited in notes or bibliographies	←    →	Sometimes vaguely referred to.	Rarely cited.
Advertising	If any, usually book reviews or job announcements.	←    →	Promotes a variety of products and services.	Promotes a variety of products and services.
Publishers	Most sponsored by professional organizations or academic presses.	←    →	Usually produced commercially.	Usually produced commercially.
Indexing	Indexed in subject-specific sources such as Social Sciences Index, ERIC.	←    →	Indexed in general indexes likeWilsonSelect, Reader’s Guide.	Indexed in general indexes likeWilsonSelect, Reader’s Guide.

  How to distinguish scholarly from popular in an electronic environment 

In Ebsco databases like Academic Search Premier, on the main search page, “Limit your results” by checking Scholarly (Peer-Reviewed) Journals.

If your database does not have that feature, check the full text article for the following characteristics:

• A works cited or bibliography section
• The article reports on original research, reviews the literature, or presents a critical analysis of a topic
• A note that the author is a researcher or scholar, usually associated with a university
• High level of language/jargon
• Charts or graphs to support the text