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Research Guides

INTS 407 DIVERSITY in a GLOBALIZED WORLD (Spring 2024)

Popular vs Scholarly

What is a Scholarly Publication?

  • Academic articles presenting original research/findings on a topic in a specific discipline.
  • Authors: Written by scholars in an academic or professional field.
  • Target Audience: Those researching in the related field.
  • Publication Outlets: journals with academic or professional sounding titles.
  • Publisher: XYZ University Press or commercial publishers.
  • Format: Academic reporting style. E.g. Introduction > Literature Review > Methods > Findings > Discussions/Conclusion > Reference

What is a Popular Publication?

  • Short texts on weekly, bi-weekly or monthly magazines about current events or other popular topics.
  • Authors: Free lancers or other journalists.
  • Audience: General public, non-specialized
  • Publication Outlets: Consumer magazines
  • Format: With lots of photos and advertising, written in conversational style, and articles usually have no citations.

What is a Trade Publication?

  • Also known as professional publications or trade journals. Written for people in a specific industry with target advertising, jobs news, development updates and how-to advices and the like.
  • For example, searching for video games while limited to "Trade Journal" you may find articles from This Week in Consumer Electronics.

Limiting to Scholarly Sources Only

  • In ACADEMIC SEARCH ULTIMATE, select  the check box "Scholarly(Peer-reviewed)" 
  • In Google Scholar, you don't have to do anything.

Limiting to Popular or Trade Publication Sources Only

          In ACADEMIC SEARCH ULTIMATE, under "Source Types" select magazines or trade publications.

To Check If A Journal Is Scholarly
           Ulrich's Periodicals Directory - to check if a periodical is scholarly / peer-reviewed / refereed or not.