““Identifying Scholarly Identifying Scholarly Sources”Sources”

National History DayNational History Day

September, 2013September, 2013

POPULAR POPULAR VS. SCHOLARLYSCHOLARLY

Kinds of Information Sources Kinds of Information Sources

Popular Popular SourcesSources

Audience is the general public Audience is the general public Written by writers who may or Written by writers who may or may not have specific training may not have specific training in the subject in the subject Purpose is to inform and Purpose is to inform and entertain or sell somethingentertain or sell somethingLanguage is simple and Language is simple and understandableunderstandableCoverage is broad and Coverage is broad and variedvaried

Scholarly Scholarly SourcesSources Written by experts or scholars in a Written by experts or scholars in a

field field Audience is other experts and Audience is other experts and scholarsscholarsPurpose is to communicate Purpose is to communicate research and ideasresearch and ideasOften contains specialized Often contains specialized vocabulary/technical languagevocabulary/technical languageVery narrow in scope and subject Very narrow in scope and subject coveragecoverageContains veryContains very few illustrations and few illustrations and no advertisementsno advertisements

Finding Scholarly articlesFinding Scholarly articlesAlso known as academic, peer-reviewed, or refereedAlso known as academic, peer-reviewed, or refereed

Articles published in academic journalsArticles published in academic journals Published by academics for an academic Published by academics for an academic

audienceaudience Published by a recognized society with Published by a recognized society with

academic goals and missionacademic goals and mission

To determine if an article is To determine if an article is scholarly…….scholarly…….

Look at name of journal and publisherLook at name of journal and publisher Has it undergone a process of peer-review?Has it undergone a process of peer-review? What is the length of the article?What is the length of the article? Advertisements? Illustrations?Advertisements? Illustrations? Does it contain references to other sources? Does it contain references to other sources?

Are the citations clear and abundant?Are the citations clear and abundant? Who is the author? Are credentials given?Who is the author? Are credentials given? Scan the abstractScan the abstract