What is a scholarly source?
A "scholarly resource" describes a type of resource (usually a journal article or a book) that is written by an expert in a field of study or subject. Many of these resources, particularly journal articles, go through a rigorous process to be published. Other experts in the same field must verify the information in the article before it gets published. This process is referred to as "peer-reviewed."
Because the information is written by experts and verified by other experts, scholarly resources are considered the most appropriate resources to use at the college level. Also, these articles often report the process and the results of studies conducted by the authors. If you have ever seen or heard anything that stated "studies show...." - these articles are those studies.
What is a popular source?
Popular resources are published for a general audience. They are written to be read by the general public and typically do not require any specialized knowledge or study to understand. These include magazines, newspapers, most government and non-government organization's publications, and almost all websites and articles that are published on the Internet, as well as most primary sources like speeches, diaries, raw statistics, and government documents.
These sources can vary dramatically in their level of credibility. Make sure that you are always evaluating every source of information you use to see if it is a reliable source, especially popular sources. Think critically about anything you find, especially on the Internet.
To help determine the credibility of a source that you encounter on the Internet, please refer to the following resources:
This video on Scholarly and Popular Resources goes over this entire concept in a little more detail.
If you still have questions you can chat in real-time with a librarian here.
