CMU LibGuides: EUREKA!: Mellon College of Science First-Year Experience: Scholarly Vs. non-scholarly

Scholarly Resources

Scholarly resources provide:

information that has been written/reviewed by experts in the field.

scholarly analysis, description or evaluation of events and ideas.

primary sources of information about the views of a scholarly community.

Non-scholarly or popular resources provide:

general information and commentary about political, economic and cultural events.

primary information about culture and society.

current statistical information of general interest. popular opinions and beliefs.

	*Scholarly*	*Non-scholarly or popular*
Appearance	Text in a pattern Serious appearance	Exciting pictures, Advertisements,
Audience	Scholars, students/researcher	General public
Authors	Scholars, professional, and expert practitioners	Journalists, professional and amateur writers
Content	In-depth analysis or extensive overview of a topic, technical vocabulary	Simple discussions of news, entertainment or other popular subjects
Review Process	Works published after review by credible scholars in the discipline (peer review)	Works reviewed by publications editors or purchased
Scholarly Apparatus	Many citations in a format	Few or no citations Simple Language
Examples	ACS Nano, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Nature	Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Gardening for Dummies