Navigating Your Library
A Roadmap to Available Resources
Scholarly & Popular Sources
| Characteristics | Scholarly | Trade | Popular |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author | Scholar or Researcher | Professionals or Craftspeople | Journalists & Others |
| Audience | Academics, Policy Makers & Students | Professionals or Craftspeople | General Public |
| Editorial Process | Peer Review, Editorial Team or both | Editorial Team | Single Editor or Team |
| Documentation | Formal Citation Styles | Citation Styles | May or may not include citations, if included do not follow formal styles |
| Language | Jargon Heavy and Discipline Specific | Jargon Heavy and Discipline Specific | Easy to Understand |
| Format | Lengthy, Dense, Primarily Text | Varies, includes profession specific advertisements |
Can be short or longer, includes frequent images |
Sometimes we'll refer to sources in groups as scholarly or popular. Scholarly sources are written by scholars and academics for scholars and academics. These sources are associated with a low tolerance for error and high standards. They also take longer to produce and are often kept behind paywalls. Trade publications are written by experts in a profession for other similar professionals. Examples include carpenters, crocheters, or machinists. Popular sources are a very large category. They include almost everything else, and the unifying characteristic is that they are written for a general audience.