Popular versus Scholarly Articles
| Popular | Scholarly | |
| Publisher | Commercial Firm | Usually, a university or association |
| Audience | General Readers | Scholarly readers, such as professors, researchers, students |
| Appearance | Colorful, illustrated | Plain |
| Writing Style | Informal; written for anyone to understand | Formal, scholarly |
| Authors | Staff writers, generalists | Experts, scholars, and researchers |
| Advertising | Ads for business or consumer products | No ads or ads for books or other scholarly tools |
| Article Type | Short, nontechnical articles with photos and graphics | Long research articles with tables, graphs, and charts |
| Documentation | None | Bibliographies, footnotes, or other references |
| Illustrations | Often illustrated for marketing appeal | Illustrations support the text |
| Examples | Psychology Today, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated | Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Modern Fiction Studies, JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association |
Wayne
Bivens-Tatum
Gen. & Humanities Reference Librarian
