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http://www.flickr.com/photos/38117207@N03/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Different types of publications have different purposes and different audiences. When we talk about journals and magazines, we can usually divide these publications into three broad categories: scholarly, popular, and trade.
One very important difference between scholarly journals and other types of publications is peer review. Watch Peer Review in Three Minutes to learn what this means and why it's important to your research.
How do you know if an article you've found in a database is from a scholarly journal? Consult this table:
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Scholarly |
Popular |
Trade |
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Written by |
Authorities in the field, such as professors or researchers. Often an article has several authors. |
Journalists, staff writers, or freelance writers. Usually an article has only one author. Sometimes no author is listed. |
Specialists in the field. Usually an article has only one author. Sometimes no author is listed. |
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Written for |
Other authorities and scholars in the field. Authors expect readers to understand specialized language. The tone of the writing is formal. |
A general audience. Often written to entertain as well as to inform. Authors explain terms the reader might not be familiar with. The tone is usually informal. |
People who work in the field. Written to offer practical information, news, etc. Authors expect readers to understand specialized language. |
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Sources cited |
Sources are cited in a formal style in endnotes, footnotes, or bibliographies. |
Sources may be mentioned, but are unlikely to be cited formally. |
Sources may be mentioned, but are unlikely to be cited formally. |
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Appearance |
Usually has formal, labeled sections for the abstract, conclusions, bibliography, etc. If there are any images, they are probably charts, graphs, or tables. |
No abstract or other formal sections. Images are large and colorful in a PDF file; in an HTML version, there will be placeholders like [color photo]. |
Unlikely to have formal sections. Images are usually intended to illustrate concepts rather than decorate the page. |
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Peer review |
Yes |
No |
No |
Often a database will even tell you whether a journal is scholarly or not.
Below is a list of General Health Web sites that are excellent and highly recommended:
How can you tell if the information you find is good information? Use the CRAAP test. It's a list of questions to help you evaluate the information you find. Different criteria will be more or less important depending on your situation or need.
The timeliness of the information.
The importance of the information for your needs.
The source of the information.
The reliability, truthfulness and correctness of the content.
The reason the information exists.
CRAAP test adapted from California State University, Chico.
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Some tips when selecting your search terms:
e.g. teenager, teen, teens, youth, young adult, juvenile, adolescent
e.g. colour / color, behaviour / behavior, lift / elevator
e.g. heart attack / myocardial infarction
e.g. child, child's, children, childhood
e.g. computer aided design / CAD
Evaluating Information - tutorial from Penn State University
Evaluating Internet Health Information - tutorial from National Library of Medicine
Evaluating Web Resources Checklist