University of West Florida, John C. Pace Library, 4:53
The video begins by describing three categories of articles—scholarly, trade, and popular—and lists their respective audiences, authors, purposes, writing styles, inclusion or lack of references, and other notable features. It also goes over a little of the publication cycle. Start the video at 0:03, and end it at 4:24 to skip over the library specific branding and contact information. It might not be best in a guide because of the branding, but there could always be a note about ending the video early or noting how our information is different, etc. This might be good to watch in a class session.
SCHOLARLY |
POPULAR |
|||
|
General Interest |
Trade / Professional |
Sensational |
|
LENGTH |
Long; 8 pages or more |
Short; 6 pages or less |
Short; 6 pages or less |
Short |
CONTENT |
Original research or experimentation. Format: title, abstract, literature review, methodology, discussion, conclusion, bibliography |
Broad focus topics:culture, politics, etc. |
News, trends, developments and products for industry or profession |
Celebrity gossip, unusual news stories that may lack credibility |
READERSHIP or AUDIENCE |
Academics Students Professionals |
Educated audience but non-specialists |
Professionals and experts in the field |
Gullible audience, appeal to superstitions and prejudice |
AUTHOR |
Specialists and researchers in a subject area |
Staff or freelance writers who may have subject expertise |
Professionals in the field, and/or staff writers |
Often unidentified |
VOCABULARY |
Technical vocabulary and specialized jargon |
Average level ranging from formal to conversational |
Some specialized vocabulary but fairly readable |
Elementary and inflammatory, popular language |
ACCOUNTABILITY |
Peer reviewed Significant references |
Not peer reviewed Minimal references |
Not peer reviewed Minimal references |
Not peer reviewed Entirely unsubstantiated |
ADVERTISEMENTS |
Few or none |
Moderate |
Moderate (tend to be trade related) |
Many |
APPEARANCE |
Plain, black/white graphics, charts and figures |
Glossy w/ color with photographs and illustrations |
Glossy w/ color with photographs and illustrations |
Newspaper format, color with many photographs |
EXAMPLES |
The Journal of the American Medical Association
Journal of Sport and Social Issue |
The Atlantic Monthly
Sports Illustrated
Time
Vogue |
Advertising Age
American Teacher
Publishers Weekly
Supermarket News |
National Examiner
Star
Weekly World News |
This chart has been adapted from UC Santa Cruz's web page "Distinguish Between Popular and Scholarly Periodicals". |
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