Brandel Library

WRIT 1000: Ingersoll

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Scholarly or Popular?

Use the following criteria to decide if a publication is popular or scholarly.

Scholarly Articles

 Popular Articles

Author Expert in the field, credentials and affilated university listed Journalist, freelance writer or staff writers
Length of article Longer more detailed content Shorter articles giving a brief overview
Intended audience Researchers, experts in the field General Public
Layout Includes an abstract, footnotes, list of citations. Does not follow a standard format, often a simple title
Images Charts, graphs, tables of data Colorful, eye catching photos
Vocabulary Specialized terminology, need extensive knowlege of discipline to understand text Written at the level to be understood by the general public

Scholarly vs. Popular

This video explains the differences between scholarly and popular publications.