Popular or Scholarly?

Popular

100

True/false: A major national newspaper (like the Wall Street Journal or New York Times) is a popular source.

True.

200

True/false: Articles published on online publishing platforms like Medium, Squarespace, and Blogger are credible publishers of popular sources.

False.

300

True/false: All of the articles published in the New York Times can be found for free on the NYTimes website.

False. The NYTimes website only provides a small fraction of its articles for free. To access most of them, you will need to either purchase them yourself or use the Library databases, which are FREE.

400

Popular sources are shorter articles written for the general public and can be found in the following two types of publications -

What are newspapers and magazines?

Scholarly

100

True/false: Scholarly sources are contain shorter articles that do not require the audience to have much background knowledge.

False. Scholarly sources assume the audience already has some knowledge of the topic. (Consulting an introductory source is a good way to prepare yourself before you read a scholarly source.)

200

Scholarly sources are written by this type of author.

What is a scholar/expert/authority on the topic that they are writing about? (Anything along these lines is acceptable.)

300

True or false: A scholarly source includes a list of works cited.

True. Scholarly sources always include a list of works cited (or references).

400

True or False: An article published in U.S. News & World Report is a scholarly source.

False. Although U.S. News & World Report is a respected publication, it's a popular magazine with shorter articles written by reporters for the general public.

Potpourri

100

This is the term used when scientific, academic, or professional work is evaulated by experts working in the same field. Sources that have gone through this arduous process are considered the "gold standard" in research.

What is peer review?

200

True/false: If the author of a source has a clear bias, the source should never be used under any circumstances.

False. As long as you clearly acknowledge the bias and it's pertinent to your argument, you may use a biased source, but do so cautiously.

300

If you're unsure if a source is appropriate for academic research, you can go here for help.

What is your professor, a librarian, or a database? (Any of these would be acceptable answers.)

400

True/false: A post in the Harvard Medical School Health Blog is a scholarly source.

False. Although Harvard Medical School is a respected authority, its blog is a popular source written for the general public and the posts do not include works cited lists.