COMM 2340 Media Law

Databases

Scholarly VS Non-Scholarly Sources

 

 

 

 

Scholarly Journals

 

 

Popular Magazines

 

Scholarly vs. Non-Scholarly Sources

Purpose

  • Share results of research with other scholars
  • Broad appeal
  • Entertain
  • Sell products

Audience

  • Researchers
  • Academic faculty
  • Students 
  • General public

Authors

  • Scholars and researchers
  • Experts in the field
  • Journalist
  • Featured writers

Publisher

  • Professional associations
  • University publishers
  • Scholarly commercial publishers
  • Commercial publisher

Appearance

  • Basic layout
  • Usually black text on white paper
  • Tables or charts
  • Minimal subject-related advertising
  • Often printed on glossy paper
  • Colored text or headlines
  • Usually has accompanying photographs
  • Many advertisements. 

Article Acceptance

  • Peer-reviewed by experts in the field
  • Writers usually employed by magazine

Article Length

  • Often lengthy (approximately 10-30 pages) 
  • Often short (approximately 1-10 pages)

Article Language

  • College-level
  • Specialized vocabulary or jargon of the discipline 
  • Non-technical
  • Conversational/simple vocabulary 

Organization & References

  • Highly-structured
  • Include abstracts, review of literature, methodology, and citations to sources
  • Always contain a bibliography of references 
  • Loosely-structured
  • Rarely have bibliographies
  • Sometimes informally mention sources 

Examples

  • American Journal of Political Science
  • Policy Studies Review
  • Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report
  • Time 

 

From Cornell College's "A Guide to Evaluating Resources"

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