Oceans of Information: Learn to Distinguish Between Different Sources

You probably already know some of the differences between a website, a newspaper article, and a book. Do you know the difference between popular and scholarly sources? Those are the two categories through which information may be distinguished.

Magazines, newspapers, and fictional books fall into the category of popular sources.

Scholarly sources are primarily made up of journals and nonfiction books. Most library databases will allow you to limit your search to scholarly journals that are peer-reviewed. Some individuals use the terms scholarly and peer-reviewed interchangeably. Scholarly articles are generally authored by experts, but not all scholarly articles go through the peer-review process. The video below provides additional information about peer review.

Scholarly sources contain original research, which makes them primary sources. Magazines, newspapers, and journals reference this original research, making them secondary sources. Many other factors can contribute to how one determines the difference between a primary and secondary source. Let’s leave it simple for now. Your professor may decide to go into more detail with you.

For further distinctions between popular sources and scholarly sources, explore the table below or download a PDF version of the information.

A table that outlines the differences between various types of sources

References

This chart is licensed through an Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported license. It was modified from a version created by the University of Texas Libraries.