Writing 10: Academic Writing (Wilson, Spring 2025)

Vanderbilt University, Peabody Library, 3:12

This video's learning outcomes include:

• recognizing physical characteristics of scholarly articles
• recognizing categories of periodicals from popular, to scholarly, to trade

from video "Scholarly vs non-scholarly sources - academic resources Research ready" (1:58) from Southern Cross University Library

Scholarly Sources 

• Can include articles and books
• Scholarly articles are also referred to as peer-reviewed or refereed articles. (All peer-reviewed articles are scholarly, but not all scholarly articles undergo the peer-review process).
• Scholarly books are often produced by university presses (e.g. University of California Press) or other publishers focused on academic literature
• Include citations, usually lots of them!
• Written by and for faculty, researchers or scholars (research-focused)
• Relatively long
• Few to no pictures, but may have charts & graphs

Non-Scholarly a.k.a. Popular 

• Can include articles, books, and many other information sources from blogs to government publications
• Sources that are non-scholarly can still be useful and credible
• Produced by a variety of individuals and organizations from reputable organizations to self-publishers
• Citations may or may not be included
• Written for a variety of audiences
• Usually shorter, but can be long
• Many pictures, attractive graphics

Question #1: Is this resource scholarly? "The carbon footprint of the carbon feedstock CO2"

Question #2: Is this resource scholarly? Financial Education Initiative, What We're Reading

Question #3: Is this resource scholarly? The Marginalization of Women in Obstetrics.