ECEM 721 Library Module

Evaluating Sources

Distinguishing Between Scholarly vs. Popular Periodicals
Distinguishing Between Primary vs. Secondary Sources
Evaluating Information found on the Web

Distinguishing Between Scholarly vs. Popular

Types of publications have different purposes and different audiences. Periodicals are often categorized as scholarly journals, popular magazines, or trade publications. When researching, you may want to target finding specific types of journals.

Scholarly Journals

• longer articles on original research or in-depth analysis
• authors are experts in their field
• authors use the jargon of the discipline
• authors cite the sources used
• articles may go through a peer review process (refereed)
• illustrations tend to be charts or graphs
• very few or no advertisements are included
• format may include an introduction, method, results, conclusion and bibliography

Popular magazines

• Shorter articles to inform or entertain
• non-technical in nature
• include pictures and advertisements
• authors are magazine staff or freelancers
• vocabulary is not specialized

Trade publications

• practical articles written for practitioners in a field or industry by authors in that field or industry
• sources are not formally cited
• authors use the jargon of the industry

See How To Evaluate Journal Articles for more information.

Distinguishing Between Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Primary sources can be published or unpublished sources that provide firsthand evidence of historical events. When searching the catalog, the following terms can be helpful for locating primary sources: memoirs, diaries, letters, correspondence, personal narratives, archives, manuscripts.

Special Collections is another resource for finding primary resources.

See Primary vs. Secondary Sources for more information.

Evaluating Information Found On the Web

It is important to evaluate information from all sources for relevance, reliability, and objectivity. There is no quality control for information posted to the web, so it is especially important for you to evaluate information you find in this format.

For more information see Evaluating Information Found on the Web

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