Research Guides: ASTR 102: Our Solar Systems and Others: Types of Sources

Journalism Standards

Depending on the type and mode of publication, journalism will operate by its own set of standards. It's a good idea to do a quick search about the publication, their reputation, and what they say about their own editorial process, before using news or popular sources about science.

The Peer Review Process

One of the main things that sets scholarly journal articles apart from popular magazine articles, is the process of peer review

Comparison of Popular Magazine and Scholarly Journal Articles

This table provides some criteria to help you distinguish between popular and scholarly sources. Look for a combination of factors to determine what type of source you have.

	Popular Magazines	Scholarly Journals
Authority	Written by journalists/staff writers. Name of writer may not be provided. Author may not have any background in the subject area.	Written by scholars/researchers. Name of writer always provided. Author has conducted research and has educational background in the subject area.
Audience and Purpose	Read by the general public. Written in easy to understand language. Content is written to inform, entertain, or persuade readers.	Read by scholars and researchers. Written with specialized vocabulary familiar to its readers. Content is written to share and analyze results of research and debate issues in the subject area.
Depth	Tend to be short (less than 5 pages). Provide overviews of the topic. May be heavily illustrated with photographs.	Tend to be long (more than 10 pages). Provide in-depth analysis of the topic. May include graphs and charts of research data.
Sources	May mention reports and studies in the text, but do not provide a full citation.	Have a bibliography and/or footnotes/endnotes, allowing the reader to verify sources used.
Examples	Time Sports Illustrated Glamour	JAMA Human Rights Quarterly Film Quarterly