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 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 |
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.