How can I tell if a source is scholarly or popular?
Here are the basics: (Check out this handy dandy chart for more information!)
Popular Magazines/Newspapers:
- glossy, pretty pages with lots of advertisements and pictures
- written by hired reporters for a general audience
- short, easily read articles
Scholarly Journals:
- written by experts in the field and reviewed by other scholars before publication
- reports on research, may have data, charts, graphs and tables
- long articles with citations and bibliographies at the end
- somewhat dull looking - often fewer pictures or advertisements
Where do I find scholarly sources?
You should use one of our library databases to find scholarly articles! Check out our suggestions on the Find Articles tab.
Why should you use the library databases and not Google?
Most of the time, scholarly publications are not available to the general public, nor are they available for free on the internet. Individuals or organizations (such as a library) must subscribe to these publications. Because subscriptions are expensive, many choose to access this content through libraries.
Often, content from scholarly journals is indexed in databases that the library subscribes to. The content is on the web, but it is not accessible unless you are affiliated with the institution that subscribes. Searching using the library databases isn’t the same thing as finding a website through a regular Google search. Sometimes we call this part of the web you cannot access through search engines the Invisible Web. Here's an illustration:
The library databases also have all sorts of specialized search tools to make it easier to do academic research!
Sometimes the full text of the article is available through the database; other times it is only a citation to the article and you will need to find the print version of the article in the library or order the article through interlibrary loan if we don’t subscribe to it. Using the library to access articles means you can get articles for free!
GOOGLE SCHOLAR
NOTE: While you can't depend on getting scholarly articles from a standard Google Search, you can sometimes get full text scholarly articles by searching Google Scholar.
If the results show a PDF or HTML notation on the right, then it indicates full text.
Some of these are free, while some may have a hefty charge ($35 etc.). If this there is a charge, we can usually get that article for free through our interlibrary loan service (ILL). You can ask a librarian on how to do an interlibrary loan.
CLICK HERE to try out Google Scholar.
Also you can try the Advanced Scholar search which gives you more search options. (See instructions below)
Accessing the Advanced Scholar Search Menu
To pull up the Advanced Scholar Search menu, go to the regular Google Scholar search page.- In the upper left corner of the page, press the button made of three horizontal lines to open a new menu.
- Advanced Search should be the second to last option in the newly-opened menu.
If you have any questions about the information above or any questions about how to best do research, feel free to stop by the Research Help Desk on the SW corner of the 1st floor of the Guerrieri Academic Commons (near Hungry Minds!). Or you can send us a Chat question. Or you can send an email to your Modern Languages liaison at ggrobb@salisbury.edu. Good luck with your research!