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Asnuntuck Campus Library

Asnuntuck CCS: Research Basics

Types of Sources

There are many types of sources you will find when you start researching, but two important types to know are scholarly and popular sources. Some professors will have requirements about what types of sources they want you to use for your assignments. Below is a quick rundown of the characteristics of

scholarly vs popular sources. 

Scholarly Sources

 

 

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS​

  • Published in Scholarly journals, not in stores​

  • Written for and by experts in the field​

  • Longer review process, may be peer-reviewed​

STRUCTURE​

  • Abstract​

  • May include graphs, data and/or statistics ​

  • Includes a list of reference at the end​

USES​

  • Subject-specific info, research and data​

  • How scholars to communicate​

  • Quality and reliability of the info is much greater, particularly if it is peer-reviewed.

Anatomy of a Scholarly Article 

Images borrowed from Capalla University Library. For a complete visual explanation of scholarly journal articles, visit their website here.

Popular Sources

 

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS​

  • Magazines and newspapers  ​

  • Broad, general audience, ​

  • Shorter review process​

STRUCTURE​

  • Simple language ​

  • Shorter than journal articles.  ​

  • May include pictures, special layouts and/or advertisements. ​

  • Rarely include references ​

USES​

  • Current information and events ​

  • Overview of a topic​

  • Human interest stories or convey emotional responses.