A scholarly journal contains articles and letters written by scholars to report results of research and other scholarly activities. For most academic papers, scholarly articles are excellent and preferred sources for supporting your arguments.
Some Differences between Scholarly and Popular publications:
|
Research
(Scholarly) |
Popular
(Substantive News or General Interest) |
| Main purpose: to inform and to report on original research or experimentation | Main purpose: to provide information to a well-educated, broad audience |
| Serious look; may have charts, graphs, few colorful photographs | Usually quite attractive in appearance; articles often heavily illustrated, generally with photographs. |
| Always cite their sources; include extensive documentation to previously published research (footnotes, endnotes, bibliographies works cited, etc.) Usually have summary of the article at the beginning; addresses, credentials of authors usually found on first or last page | Sometimes cite sources, though most often do not |
| Articles are reviewed by scholars or researchers in the field before being published (peer reviewed) | No peer review process; editorial team makes all content decisions |
| Articles written by a scholar or researcher in the field | Articles are written by editorial staff, scholar or freelance writer; no peer review process |
| Language used is that of discipline; assumes reader has some background in the field; often assumes reader has a thorough knowledge of the history and issues of the subject | Language geared to any educated audience; no specialty assumed, unfamiliar terms often defined |
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Examples of Scholarly Journals:
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Examples of Popular Journals:
Popular Magazines
Examples of Popular Magazines:
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