When looking at a specific Wikipedia article, consider the following: |
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HISTORY
When you find a book in the catalog or on the shelf, how do you decide if it is a good source for your research? Books generally undergo more evaluation before publishing than some websites, and, if a library owns a book, that means more evaluation has taken place (for purchase and inclusion). However, you still need to check for quality and relevance. Here is a link to some questions you should ask:
Want to learn more about evaluation?
Scholarly | Popular | |
Format | Journals | Magazines, newspapers |
Content | Original research and inquiry | General interest stories and opinion pieces; may discuss research studies, but do not contain original research |
Purpose | Share research to expand knowledge base in a discipline |
Share news, general information, and entertainment; for profit |
Audience | Professors, researchers, professionals, experts, students | General public |
Author | Experts in the field. Name, credentials, and affiliations are provided. | Journalist or professional writer, who are not experts or specialists in a field. Sometimes no author name or credentials are given. |
Article Structure | Includes clearly labeled parts such as abstract (article summary), and references (bibliography, works cited). May also include and introduction, background, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, conclusion, notes, appendices and more. | Structure varies. May have titled subsections, but they will rarely be the same labels as a scholarly work. Do not have abstracts or reference lists. |
Language | Scholarly or technical language; may require prior knowledge of field, issues, and jargon | Easily understood language; does not require special knowledge |
Peer review | Usually. Articles are verified by experts in the field; emphasize accuracy, trustworthiness, and validity. | No |
Citations | Yes. Other sources will be cited in text and will have full citations/references in footnotes or reference/works cited list at the end of the paper. | Rarely. Sources will often be referred to, but rarely have full citations. No reference/works cited list. |
Appearance | Serious and simple; often black and white | Glossy, colorful; attractive images and design; full page ads |
Images | Sometimes. May contain charts, diagrams, and tables; photography is rare outside of specific disciplines. | Yes. Heavily illustrated with many photos |
Advertisements | Rarely. If so, they are small, discreet, and subject related | Yes. Profit-based publication; a significant portion is allocated to ads |
Length | Longer. Length is variable, but usually between 10-30 pages | Shorter. A couple hundred words to a few pages |
Information in this table was created in conjunction with viewing the University of Victoria's Research Tips Central pages.