Learn How to Tell the Difference Between Popular and Scholarly Articles

Articles appear in both popular and in scholarly periodicals. Both have their place in research. You should be able to tell the difference between a popular and a scholarly article.

You can get some help from the information in the periodical index record.

Title of the article
Check the language of the title. If it uses words that are specific to the discipline, or are scholarly in tone, then the article is probably scholarly. Consider these two articles on the same subject:

"The last days of Eden: the Yanomama Indians will have to adapt to the 20th century - or die" (popular)
"Ethnography and ethnocide: a case study of the Yanomami" (scholarly)

Name of the periodical (journal, magazine, or newspaper)
Certain words in the title of a periodical usually indicate that the publication is scholarly. Some of these words are: journal, bulletin, review, quarterly.

The publisher or sponsor of the periodical
If the periodical is published by a scholarly organization, society, or association then it is probably a scholarly journal.

Once you have the article, there are other clues to help you decide if it is popular or scholarly. What can you tell about the author?
Popular - May name the author, but not give any information about him or her except that he or she is a reporter.

Scholarly - May give information about his or her work affiliation - academic, government, business - or some explanation of why he or she is qualified to write the article.

What is the level of readability of the article?

Popular - Easy reading style; short, simple sentences; "common" or plain language.

Scholarly - Formal style; longer, more complex sentences; technical language.

What is the tone/writing style of the article?
Popular - Informal, anecdotal, personal, entertaining.

Scholarly - Factual; unemotional; scientific; detached; unbiased.

Is there any validation with the article? Do author(s) refer you to their information sources?
Popular - None.

Scholarly - Footnotes or endnotes; reference lists; citations.

How about the layout?
Popular - Tend to be shorter.

Scholarly - Tend to be longer.

And the most important question - Who is the intended audience?
Popular - Written for a general audience.

Scholarly - Written for an audience of professionals or specialists in the discipline.

If you want popular articles, use an index that indexes popular periodicals. For example: CBCA (Canadian Business and Current Events), or Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature.

Learn more about Distinguishing Scholarly Journals from Other Periodicals.

July 15, 2008