These articles are readily available, short, and are usually written by staff, journalists, or other freelance writers who may not be specialists in the topics they’re writing about. Popular sources are usually written to inform, entertain, or persuade the general reading public, so they tend to use everyday language accessible to all types of readers and don’t usually include a list of references, even if they might refer to the resources they used indirectly.
These articles are written by experts in their fields and are intended for a specialized audience. Scholarly sources are written by researchers and scholars that discuss or analyze their original research. They aim to present and share original research with other researchers and scholars and often contain technical jargon and specialized vocabulary. Scholarly sources cite and document their sources, presented in a bibliography at the end of the article.
Scholarly Journals vs. Popular Magazines: What Are the Differences?
Distinguishing Scholarly Articles (CSU Chico, Meriam Library)
Peer review is the process of submitting drafts of articles for critical assessment by experts in the field or discipline before articles are accepted for publication in scholarly journals. The peer review process helps ensure the quality of information that is published in that field.
Peer review is sometimes referred to as “refereed.” The referees are researchers, professors, and others who are competent in the subject area. Note that all peer-reviewed publications are scholarly but not all scholarly publications are peer reviewed. Some journals only require that a submitted article be reviewed by the editor(s).
Primary research articles, sometimes referred to as empirical or primary sources, are written by the scientists who are reporting on their own original research/experiment in order to communicate their discoveries or findings to other scientists. Articles follow a specific structure and contain several main elements:
Hsiu-An Chu, Ing-Feng Chang, Chin-Hui Shen, Yu-Ting Chen, Hsing-Ting Wang, Li-Chun Huang, & Kai-Wun Yeh. (2012). Photosynthetic properties and photosystem stoichiometry of in vitro-grown juvenile, adult, and rejuvenated Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don) Endl. Botanical Studies, 53(2), 223-227. Academic Search Ultimate.
Bose, J., Babourina, O., & Rengel, Z. (2011). Role of magnesium in alleviation of aluminium toxicity in plants. Journal of Experimental Botany, 62(7), 2251-2264.