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Introduction to Literature Search

This guide is intended to provide you with the basic skills necessary to search for literature. The skills are presented broadly and can be applied across all databases.

Popular vs Scholarly Information

Scholarly Sources

Scholarly sources contribute a great deal to the overall quality of papers because of their level of authority and evident credibility. Use of scholarly sources is an expected attribute of academic course work.

General attributes:

  • Are written by and for faculty, researchers or scholars (chemists, historians, doctors, artists, etc.)
  • Use scholarly or technical language
  • Tend to be longer articles about research
  • Include full citations for sources 
  • Are most often refereed or peer reviewed (articles are reviewed by an editor and other specialists before being accepted for publication)
  • Have no or few advertisements
  • Book reviews and editorials are not considered scholarly articles, even when found in scholarly journals

Popular Sources

Popular sources can appear in magazines and newspapers. Information in popular sources can help you answer simple who, what, when, and where questions. Depending on the assignment, they can be essential for finding information about current events or issues. Popular sources range from research-oriented [but lacking complete citations to sources] to special interest, agenda-driven publications.

General attributes

  • Are often written by journalists or professional writers for a general audience
  • Use language easily understood by general readers
  • Rarely give full citations for sources
  • Written for the general public
  • Tend to be shorter than journal articles
  • May contain a lot of advertisements and photographs
  • Not evaluated by experts

 

Bonus Type of Literature: Trade Publications

Trade publications intend to share general news, trends, and opinions among practitioners in a certain industry or profession. Although generally written by experts, they are not considered scholarly because they are not peer-reviewed and do not focus on advancing new knowledge discovery or reporting research results.

Primary, Secondary & Tertiary Sources. Written by Ward Saylor & Helen Hooper for Information and Research Support, within the Information Services program of the Academic Support Division at James Cook University, July, 2000.  
http://cms.jcu.edu.au/libcomp/assist/guides/azguides/JCUPRD_030412

Adapted from: https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/scholarly