| Popular | Scholarly | |
|---|---|---|
| Author | Staff writer; journalist | **Expert in the field; known credentials |
| Audience | General public | Scholars, researchers |
| Language | Little technical language or subject-specific jargon | Uses technical language and subject-specific jargon |
| Coverage | Broad topics; shallow coverage; shorter length | Narrow topics; in-depth coverage; longer length |
| Documentation | Usually no bibliography; may have links throughout | Bibliography present |
| *Peer-reviewed? | No | Usually |
*To tell for certain if an article is peer-reviewed, Google the journal's website. The About section, Author Guidelines, or information on the editorial process will typically tell you if articles within that journal are peer-reviewed.
**A note on "experts" (i.e. who is an "authority" on a subject)
"Information resources reflect their creators’ expertise and credibility, and are evaluated based on the information need and the context in which the information will be used. Authority is constructed in that various communities may recognize different types of authority. It is contextual in that the information need may help to determine the level of authority required."
"[Information consumers] should view authority with an attitude of informed skepticism and an openness to new perspectives, additional voices, and changes in schools of thought.... [Information consumers]...acknowledge biases that privilege some sources of authority over others, especially in terms of others’ worldviews, gender, sexual orientation, and cultural orientations."
--From the Association of College & Research Libraries' Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education
Scholarly literature then falls into two categories:
Primary literature
(also known as primary research articles, empirical articles, or studies)
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
Review literature
Review articles in the sciences summarize previously reported findings rather than present new findings, often pulling together the findings of multiple primary research articles. In doing so, review literature often gives a broader view of the current state of understanding in a given topic area.
