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Table 1: Characteristics of Scholarly and Non-Scholarly Sources

 

	Scholarly Sources	Non-Scholarly Sources
Purpose	To share original research/experiments or evaluate previous research in some meaningful way (to show connections with previous research, to reveal gaps, etc.)	To provide general information, to entertain, to sell products or to promote viewpoint(s).  May discuss application of theoretical knowledge (trade or professional journals).
Author(s)	Scholars, researchers (e.g., scientists), professors.	Journalists, freelance writers, staff members, pundits. Could be anonymous.
Intended Audience	Academic or research communities, most likely with some scholarly background.	General audience or for audiences who have little information about a subject.
Publisher	University presses, scholarly presses, research organizations, professional organizations or associations.	Commercial publishers, interest groups, trade associations,
Acceptance Procedure	Undergo review by content experts prior to publishing (peer-reviewed).  Usually published quarterly or semi-annually.	Undergo editing by staff editors. Acceptance often based on popular appeal of topic. Usually published monthly, bi-monthly, weekly, or daily.
Appearance	Sober, serious look. Often include abstracts. May include graphs and charts. Few, if any, glossy photographs.	Usually attractive and heavily illustrated with glossy photographs.  Often contains advertisements.
Length and Content	Often lengthy. May include headings like methodology, literature review, further study.	Usually short. Reports on events or opinions.  May include anecdotes.
Language and Style	Language of the field (jargon, technical terms, etc).	Most often non-technical. Often written in a simple language. Technical terms used are usually defined.
Documentation	Footnotes, end notes, bibliographies, reference or works cited pages.  Most often includes citations in-text and reference page(s).	Rarely cite sources.  Trade or professional journals may have short reference lists.
Examples	JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, Journal of Behavioral Education, Technical Communication, Early Childhood Education Journal, Business Quarterly.	New York Times, National Geographic, Time, Vogue, Good Housekeeping, Harvard Business Review.

Table 1 Created 2005 by Summer Leibensperger.

Return to Understanding Periodicals

Copyright 2006 by the Academic Center, the University of Houston-Victoria, and David Felts.

Created 2006 by David Felts.

Copyright 2006 by the Academic Center and the University of Houston-Victoria

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