LibGuides: English 105: Types of Sources

Why Source Type Matters

Popular / Scholarly Divide

Unsure of what type of source you are looking at? Use the chart below to evaluate the form of the source.

	Scholarly	Popular
Examples	American Journal of Nursing, Studies in Twentieth Century Literature, American Historical Review	Times, Forbes, Psychology, Today, People, Glamour
Purpose	Report on original research Share knowledge with the scholarly community	Entertainment or persuasion Sell products through advertisement
Cited Sources	Includes footnotes at the end of pages An extensive bibliography at the end of the article	Rarely a full bibliography May have some sources included as hyperlinks
Language	Technical Language Written for the field	Simpler language that the general public can understand
Article Format	Typically longer than a few pages In sciences or social sciences, articles tend to have the following sections: Abstract, introduction, methodology, results, discussion, conclusion, and bibliography Can include graphs, charts, and photographs that support the research	Brief articles Often with no formal structure Many photographs and graphics
Appearance	Plain format, usually in black and white. Little or no advertising	Glossy format with lots of color Extensive advertising aimed at the general public.
Uses in Paper	Specific details Primary evidence Additional credibility	Background Stories Personal points of view

Learn more about the peer review process that separates a popular source from a scholarly source.

Video brought to you by Rebecca Crown Library at Dominican University.

Class Activity

Working through the table on your handout. Rank each type of source (1-6) on the following. We will work through one category at a time.

Ease

Discuss each type of information in your group, then arrange them in the order of how easy or hard you think it is to create or publish each one.

Time

Discuss each type of information in your group, then arrange them in the order of how long you think it takes to create or publish each one.

Research

Discuss each type of information in your group, then arrange them in the order of how much research you think goes into each one.

Editing

Discuss each type of information in your group, then arrange them in the order of how much you think each one is edited before it gets published.

Length

Discuss each type of information in your group, then arrange them in the order of how long or short you think each one is.

Who should I listen to?

What is Expertise?

Expertise has two different, but related meanings. It either refers to expert knowledge or the know-how, skills, or expertise in something. I.E. it either refers to knowing-that or knowing-how.

With knowing-that, think about an expert opinion witness. They provide their professional testimony because they know particular facts.

When thinking about knowing-how, think about professions like a mechanic. They have the skills informed by knowledge to do a task that someone without that skill and knowledge would not be able to do.

The type of expertise you are talking about will change who will be considered an expert.

What makes an expert?

There is a lot of debate over what makes an expert. This partly stems from the two-part definition mentioned above, but largely because expertise looks differently in different contexts. Various disciplines may value different characteristics of expertise.

There are also various ways for a person to gain expertise and/or prove their expertise.

Study a subject for a long time (How long is long enough? It depends).
Is credentialed (Does simply having a Ph.D. in a subject make you an expert? Maybe)
Experience an event firsthand
Can communicate their knowledge effectively (Have they published? Can people actually understand what they are trying to say? These are important in proving someone's expertise, though it doesn't necessarily make someone an expert).