Scholarly, Popular, and Trade Articles

Watch the Video

Library databases contain many different types of articles, and it's important that you are able to tell the differences because there will be many times in your college career that you will be asked to use specific types of articles. Learn how to distinguish between popular, trade, and scholarly articles in the following video. 

Overview

Scholarly journal articles are intended for use in support of conducting in-depth research, often containing specialized vocabulary and extensive references to sources. The content has been reviewed by academic peers to ensure the reliability of methods used and the validity of findings. Scholarly articles may help answer the "So What?" question in academic writing and lay the foundation for discovering connections between variables, issues, or events.

Scholarly journal articles are very specific, tending to focus on relationships between concepts. There are written by and for the use of scholars. 

• audience: scholars, researchers, students, professors and instructors
• authorship: authors are experts or researchers in the specific field addressed; author names are noted, often with an indication as to their credentials; authors are not paid
• references / documentation: articles contain extensive documentation, including notes and bibliographies
• review process: articles are refereed or peer reviewed by an outside body of experts in the specific field covered; peer reviewers are not paid
• advertisements: there is little or no advertising
• publishers: usually, though not always, published by professional organizations or academic institutions
• publication frequency: usually quarterly, semi-annually, or even annually

Example

• "Artificial intelligence in Peer Review: How Can Evolutionary Computation Support Journal Editors?" in the journal PLOS One (open access)

Overview

Popular articles, which include magazine and news articles, are intended for a general audience of readers. There are written typically to entertain, inform, or persuade. Popular articles help you answer who, what, when, and where questions and are essential for finding information about current events or issues. Popular sources range from research-oriented, though lacking complete citations to sources, to special interest, agenda-driven publications.

• audience: presentation style is aimed at general public
• authorship: usually written by journalists or staff writers; the author's name may or may not be noted
• references / documentation: there is usually no formal documentation of sources such as notes, footnotes, or bibliographies but sources may be cited within the text
• review process: articles printed in magazines are reviewed only by the editorial staff of the publication itself and not by any outside body
• advertisements: numerous advertisements are included
• publishers: commercial publishers
• publication frequency: usually weekly, monthly, or bi-monthly

Example

• "Who is Spending the Most Lobbying on AI Policy?" in TIME Magazine (log in with your MCCD credentials to access)

Overview

Trade articles are intended to share general news, trends, and opinions among practitioners in a certain industry or profession. Although generally written by experts, they are not considered scholarly because they are not peer-reviewed and do not focus on advancing new knowledge discovery or reporting research results. Trade journals, however, are an essential source of information in the field of business and specialized industries, such as tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, etc.

• audience: intended to inform those involved in a specific industry or trade
• authorship: written by journalists, staff writers, or others in the field being addressed; the author's name may or may not be noted
• references / documentation: generally no formal documentation of sources, such as notes, footnotes, or bibliographies but may provide information within the text
• review process: articles are usually only reviewed in-house and not by any outside body
• advertisements: numerous advertisements are included
• publishers: most are published by associations, though some are published by commercial publishers
• publication frequency: usually weekly, monthly, or bi-monthly

Example

• "The World of AI in Libraries" in the March/April 2024 issue of American Libraries Magazine (log in with your MCCD credentials to access)
  • "The World of AI in Libraries" is also available on the American Libraries' website (open access)