Compare Types of Sources - NATS 1700 - Computers, Information and Society

Scholarly vs. Popular Sources

CRITERIA	SCHOLARLY PUBLICATIONS	POPULAR PUBLICATIONS (e.g. magazines, newspapers, etc...)
Advertising	may contain selective advertising	will contain extensive advertising
Authors & Audience	written by and for academics or researchers	written by staff or freelance writers for a broad audience
Format & Graphics	may include graphs and charts; seldom contain glossy pages or pictures	often slick and glossy; will contain photographs, illustrations and/or drawings
Language	may use discipline-specific language or jargon	uses everyday language that is accessible to the average reader
Length	lengthy articles with in-depth coverage of topics	shorter articles: usually provide broad overview of topics
Publishers	generally published by a professional organization	published for profit
Purpose	to inform, report, or make available original research to the scholarly world	to entertain, inform, or persuade
Sources	footnotes and/or bibliographies	rarely cite any sources

Media/Popular Sources

Includes:

• News articles

• Opinion pieces

• Regurgitated primary information that has been reprocessed for popular consumption

Example: Scientific American

screenshot of a front cover of the Scientific American Magazine

Scholarly Sources

Includes:

• original research

• Academic author(s)

• Content that includes discipline specific language

Example: The gene revolution : GM crops and unequal development / edited by Sakiko Fukuda-Parr.

Peer Review Process

Scrutinizing science: Peer review. Retrieved September 14, 2018, from https://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/howscienceworks_16

Peer Reviewed Articles

What is peer-reviewed?

Peer-reviewed or refereed articles are articles that have gone through a vigorous process of approval by a panel of experts in that particular field before publication. Through this process of selection, the idea is that these articles are considered credible sources of information and the best in the field.

How to identify a peer-reviewed article?

To identify if an article is peer reviewed or referred you must check if the journal that the article is published in is peer-reviewed. The link provided demonstrates the steps neccessary to identify if a journal is peer reviewed by using Ulrich's International Periodical Directory.

Defining Primary and Scondary Sources

Primary sources in the sciences are different than primary sources in the social sciences and humanities. This section defines what the difference is between a primary and secondary source with examples.

To find scientific primary sources for your research papers, use the science databases suggested in the Journal Articles section.

What is a primary source?

Primary sources are:

First hand/original data document or record

What is a secondary source?

Secondary sources are:

Published/unpublished work that summarizes, anlayzes, and/or evaluates the original source of work.