Scholarly and Popular Subject Guide: Determining Scholarly
Characteristics of Scholarly Resources
WHAT IS A SCHOLARLY JOURNAL?
WHAT ARE SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF A SCHOLARLY JOURNAL?
- Scholarly journals are usually published or sponsored by a professional society or association.
- There may be a list of reviewers on the first few pages. This type of journal is known as a "juried", "refereed", or "peer reviewed" journal. In such journals, all articles are reviewed by experts before publication so the journals tend to be considered among the best in their fields.
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SCHOLARLY JOURNAL |
POPULAR MAGAZINE |
|
|
Audience |
Professionals, Professors, Graduate Students |
Lay People, folks without a college degree in the subject |
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Indexing |
Indexed in Wilson Indexes, or in subject-specific indexes like Biological Abstracts, Historical Abstracts, Art Index, etc. May be included in ProQuest/Periodical Abstracts. |
Indexed in general-purpose indexes like Readers' Guide or ProQuest/Periodical Abstracts. |
|
Language |
Field-specific language/jargon, requires reader to be in touch with other research in the field. |
Written in everyday language accessible to any generally knowledgeable reader. |
WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ARTICLE IN A SCHOLARLY JOURNAL?
Some Differences between the articles in Scholarly and Popular publications:|
SCHOLARLY ARTICLES |
POPULAR ARTICLES |
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Author |
Author's credentials in the field are established (e.g., institutional affiliation, maybe degrees, etc.) |
Authors may not have special qualifications for writing article; credentials are not given |
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Bibliography |
Yes. |
Probably not. |
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Research |
Usually based on original research or new applications of others' research. |
The author is usually a reporter; he or she will have done research for the article, but not "original" research the actual lab work, math, or theoretical analysis. |
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Scholarly vs. Popular
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