Identifying your research topic/question, i.e., what is your information need?
What are the main concepts of your research topic, and what are their keywords and their synonyms?
Where do you find this information?
How do you know this is the “right” information i.e., how do you evaluate the information?
How do you properly document and cite that information?
- How do you know this is the “right” information, i.e., how do you evaluate the information? Refer to the "Evaluating Sources" page within this guide.
|
|
Scholarly |
Trade |
Popular |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Audience |
Scholars/Experts/Students |
Professionals working in the field |
General Public |
|
Authors |
Scholars/Experts |
Professionals in the field or journalists |
Reporters |
|
Peer-Reviewed |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
Color Pictures |
Few |
Yes |
Many |
|
Advertisements |
Few |
Yes, targeted to professionals |
Many |
|
Article Length |
10+ pages |
Ranges |
1-5 pages |
|
Article Titles |
Long & Descriptive |
Ranges |
Short & Catchy |
|
Cites Sources |
Yes, Required as facts and quotes are verified |
Occasional, not required |
No |
Check the Anatomy of a Scholarly Article to find out what a scholarly article generally looks like. Please note that this is only one example of the format of a scholarly article. Scholarly articles can also contain headings such as methodology, discussion of results etc.
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