| Scholarly/Academic | Popular Magazines | Trade Journals | Newspapers | |
| Example: |  |
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| Author is usually: | Scholar in field, academic, or researcher | Staff Writer, journalist, often a generalist | Staff writer, journalist often with expertise in field | Staff Writer, Journalist |
| Credit/Sources: | Always many references and/or footnotes | Rarely cites sources, original sources may be obscure | Rarely cites sources | Rarely cites sources |
| Structure of Articles: | long (10+ page) articles with sections such as abstract, literature review, methodology, results, conclusion | Brief articles, unless feature | Brief article, unless feature | Brief article, unless feature |
| Look & Feel: | "Looks like a book." No color, no ads even in online versions | Glossy, graphics, full page advertisements even online versions | Glossy, graphics, advertisements, many are large format or online | Newsprint or online |
Select sources after carefully thinking about the types of information that you would like to find.
To find background information or an overview of a topic:
To find up-to-date information on current events:
To find scholarly information on a topic:
To find additional sources within bibliographies or footnotes:
To discover new research ideas, emerging trends, or to gain an historical perspective on research:
To find current news, products, and trends within a specific trade or industry or practical information from practitioners: