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Research Guides@Tufts

Guide to Scholarly Articles

Scholarly vs. Popular vs. Trade Articles

Scholarly articles are not the only kinds of articles that you might find in the course of your research. You may also encounter articles from popular publications such as Time Magazine, Newsweek. You may also find articles from trade publications such as Popular Mechanics.

Scholarly articles are not inherently better than other publications, but they are generally more suited to meeting your research needs primarily because they are written by credentialed experts who cite their sources.

Scholarly vs. Popular vs. Trade Articles
  Scholarly Articles Popular Articles Trade Articles
Author Scholars with academic credentials in the field; usually unpaid  Generalists and Journalists, often without academic credentials in the field; often paid Staff writers and professionals in the field or industry; generally paid
Audience Other specialists and students in the field General audience  Professionals or hobbyists in a field or industry
Publisher Universities or Academic publishers Magazines, newspapers, general publishers Trade associations, vendors
Purpose Present original research  Entertain or inform Inform within a specific field or industry
Editorial Policy Peer- review Staff editors Staff editors
Citation / References Includes footnotes or endnotes and often a bibliography Sources not always formally cited Sources not always formally cited
Content Research results, topics of specialized interest Current events, topics of general interest Current news and trends in a specific field or industry

 

Why Does this Matter?

Scholarly articles are more useful for research than are popular articles or trade articles because the information they contain is more reliable for the purposes of academic research. As a general rule, use only scholarly articles in your research.