ENGL 103 Research Guide

Differences between scholarly and popular sources

Author

Scholarly: Can always tell who wrote it; the author is an expert in the field with available credentials.
Popular: Name or credentials may not be provided; has little to no expertise on the subject.

Audience

Scholarly: Written in jargon for other professionals in the field to understand.
Popular: Written in non-technical language anyone can understand.

Editor

Scholarly: Reviewed by a board of experts (peer review).
Popular: Reviewed not by experts in the field but by a staff editor.

Citations

Scholarly: Sources are referenced with in-text citations and a bibliography.
Popular: References to outside sources are rare and do not include a bilbiography.

Length

Scholarly: Longer articles with in-depth analysis, generally at least five pages long.
Popular: Shorter articles with a broader topic focus.

Format

Scholarly: Clear sections like an abstract, literature review, methodology, results, conclusion, and bibliography. May include illustrations that directly support the text like a table or graph.
Popular: Does not follow any particular structure. Images may be glossy color photographs or include advertisements.

The CRAAP Test for evaluating materials. This is adapted from "Applying the CRAAP Test" by the Meriam Library at California State University, Chico.

Currency

• When was the information published or posted?
• Has the information been revised or updated?
• Does your topic require current information or will older sources work as well?
• Are the links functional?

Relevancy

• Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question?
• Who is the intended audience?
• Is the information at an appropriate level (i.e. not too elementary or too advanced for your needs)?
• Have you looked at a variety of sources before determining this is one you will use?
• Would you be comfortable citing this source in your research paper?

Authority

• Who is the author, publisher, source, and/or sponsor?
• What are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations?
• Is the author qualified to write on this topic?
• Is there contact information, such as a publisher or email address?
• Are the links functional?

Accuracy

• Where does the information come from?
• Is the information supported by evidence?
• Has the information been reviewed or refereed?
• Can you verify any of the information in another source or from personal knowledge?
• Does the language or tone seem unbiased and free of emotion?
• Are there spelling, grammar, or typographical errors?

Purpose

• What is the purpose of the information? Is it to inform, teach, sell, entertain, or persuade?
• Do the authors/sponsors make their intentions or purpose clear?
• Is the information fact, opinion, or propaganda?
• Does the point of view appear objective and impartial?
• Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional, or personal biases?

Stop: The source you found seems great. Stop to take a moment to evaluate it. 

Investigate the source: This is exactly as it seems. For example, if you found an article, what journal published it? Does it have a reputation, or is it difficult to find information about it? What about the author(s)? Typically, you can find a trail of their productivity and credentials that indicate experise. Use lateral reading in which you search out opinions of other reputable sources to know what they think of your source.

Find better coverage: Evaluate the source you found further by finding and comparing other sources on the topic. As a researcher, it always helps to explore multiple viewpoints on a topic to get a sense of the scholarly conversation that is taking place. When you do this, even quickly, you may come across an even better source than you initially discovered. 

Trace claims to the original context: For scholarly works, we can think of "tracing claims" as verifying that the authors' conclusions stem directly from their results. Scholarly articles will typically share their claim in an introduction section at the top, an analysis of a review, research methods, and results, and then offer a conclusion based on these sections.