Research Guides: ENGL 339 Research Guide (Hartzog): Source Evaluation

Differences Between Popular, Scholarly, and Trade Literature

In the research databases, there are tools that help you filter your article search specifically for the source formats of scholarly journals, magazines or newspapers. Still it is helpful to know the characteristics of the periodical literature you will encounter either in print or online as you do research. Of course information from scholarly journals is the best for academic research!

	Scholarly/ Professional Journals	Popular Magazines (and Newspapers)	Trade Publications
Article Type	In-depth research articles, often peer-reviewed; usually includes an abstract; may be brief news of developments in the field or recent research, academic book reviews	Brief, nontechnical, current events, news; quick facts; short interviews, brief book reviews, ads	Product reviews; industry statistics; new publications; patents
Purpose	To provide information about, report, or present original research or experiments	To provide general information to, entertain, or persuade the general public	To provide news or information to practitioners in an industry or trade
Authors	Clearly defined; experts with significant knowledge in the subject area, scholars, and researchers	Not always identified; staff writers	Not always identified; staff writers, practitioners in the trade
Audience	Professors, researchers, and students, members of association; other professionals in the field	General	Intended for those with an interest in a specific industry or trade
Publisher	Typically a university or professional association	Typically commercial	Typically commercial
Writing Style	Formal or semiformal; scholarly language; may use technical or specialized language	Informal; language is easy to understand	Informal; may use technical or specialized language
Documentation	Footnotes or endnotes; bibliography; suggested resources for more information	None	Suggested resources for more information, sometimes a brief bibliography
Illustrations/ Graphics	May include tables, graphs, charts, or equations to support the research	Often includes glossy photographs, ads, images	May include black and white or color images, graphs, or charts
Examples	Sloan Management Review, Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, Journal of Computer Information Systems, Journal of American History	Time, Newsweek, Business Week, Psychology Today, Wired, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post	Association Management, People Management, Federal Computer Week, Food Technology, Workforce

Evaluating the Authority, Reliability, Coverage, and Currency of Print or Online Sources

Evaluating Authority, Reliability, Coverage, and Currency

Evaluation criteria	Description
Authority	To evaluate authority, consider the following questions: Is the author an expert in the field about which he or she is writing? Has the author done other research or published other works in that field? If the material is a periodical article, is the periodical peer reviewed or scholarly? What point of view does the periodical present? If the material is in a book, what do you know about the publisher? Is it an educational institution or a well-known publisher? If the author is an organization, what is its reputation in the field about which it is writing? Does it present an objective point of view, or is it biased?
Reliability	To evaluate reliability, consider the following questions: Does the document have proper documentation and a reference list of reputable sources? Does it present an objective view of the topic, or is it biased? Is the document unsubstantiated propaganda? Is it a primary source such as a letter, interview, or speech, or is it a secondary source such as a document or other source discussing a primary source?
Coverage	To evaluate the coverage of a source, consider the following questions: Is the topic thoroughly covered in the source, or is it just an overview or summary of the topic? You should explore enough sources to obtain a variety of viewpoints. If the source contains data, does it include all the data or just summarized results? Does the source update another source or present new information? Are there significant omissions in the material?
Currency	To evaluate the currency of a source, notice whether there are dates to indicate when the resource was written when it was first placed online when it was last revised or edited Depending on the topic and the focus of your research, the currency of the information may be considered as more or less important when evaluating a source. For example, technology and health topics usually require the most current information. If you are studying history, it may be appropriate to include older texts, as well as newer sources that discuss the same material.