Skip to Main Content
Banner Image
ESR & Bethany Resources
Friends Collection & College Archives
Facilities & Services
Hours
Library Home

ES 1: Indiana Popular Culture (Keith): Peer review vs popular sources

Taught by Keith Cozart-Steele

Home

Encyclopedias & Dictionaries

Books

Magazine and Journal Articles

Scholarly Journals
Popular Magazines

Indiana Newspapers

Indiana Archives

Library Director

Profile Photo
Amy Bryant
She/Her
JavaScript disabled or chat unavailable.
Contact:
765-983-1302

Peer review vs popular sources

Peer review vs popular sources

Magazines, journals, scholarly, popular, peer-reviewed...??  If you've ever run across any or a combination of these terms and needed clarification on their distinct meanings, this page aims to provide it.

 

Scholarly Journals

Trade Journals

Popular Magazines

Newspapers

Examples

Journal of African American History

Indiana Lawyer

Time

New York Times

Content

Primary account of original research; In-depth analyses of issues in the field; Articles often include abstract, method, discussion, tables, conclusion, and references

Current news, trends, or products in an industry or professional organization; Statistics, forecasts, employment and career information

Current events and news; General information with purpose to entertain or inform; Analyses of popular culture; Secondary account of someone else's research that may include opinion

Current events and news that may be local, regional, national or international; Ads, editorials, speeches; Primary source for information on events

Language

Academic, technical jargon that uses the language of the discipline; Requires some relevant expertise

Specialized jargon or terminology of the field; Written for practitioners/professionals

Easily understandable, non-technical language; Written for the layperson

Written for a general audience; Understandable language

Authors

Researchers, scholars, professors, etc.

Practitioners in the field, industry professionals, or journalists with subject expertise

Journalists or staff writers

Journalists or staff writers

References

References, footnotes or bibliographies are always included

References in text or short bibliographies are occasionally included

References are rarely included

Rarely cite sources in full

Editors

Journal's editorial board, or if peer-reviewed, external scholars in the same field

Work for the publisher

Work for the publisher

Work for the publisher

Publishers

Universities, scholarly presses, or academic organizations

Commercial publishers or trade and professional organizations

Commercial publishers

Commercial publishers

Example Databases

Academic Search Premier, JSTOR

Academic Search Premier

Academic Search Premier, Time & Jet archives

Historical New York Times, Academic Search Complete

 

Peer-reviewed journal articles vs. scholarly journal articles
Not all scholarly journal articles are peer-reviewed. However, all peer-reviewed articles (aka refereed articles) are scholarly.

What is peer-review?
Peer-review refers to the rigorous process that articles undergo before they may be published.  Other scholars in the author's field or discipline review and evaluate the article for quality and validity.  If lacking, the article may be rejected, but otherwise, the article is accepted, often with suggestions for revision.

 

Adapted from a guide created by Dana Thomas - Murray State Universities Library

Presentations

Presentation Resources

New presentation apps and resources are being created all the time, but this list includes some of the more popular current ones that you can use to make your presentation memorable.

From WatchWellCast

From TED Talks

Presentation Ideas

During your presentation, use one or more of these tools to engage your audience.

How to Give Good Talks

Attribution

Many thanks to College of Coastal Georgia for allowing us to use the guide, Presentations, as a template for this LibGuide.

Writing & Citing Help

Earlham College • 801 National Road West • Richmond, Indiana 47374-4095