Let's talk about the characteristics of different source types and when you might use a source for a particular information need.
On this page we will look at differences between scholarly, popular, or trade resources, and then look at the strengths and weaknesses of different source types.
When conducting research, it is important to know the difference between scholarly, popular, and trade sources. Some sources are strictly scholarly, popular, or trade, while others can be one or another type depending on the situation.
Example: Academic journal articles are always considered scholarly, while books can be scholarly, popular, or trade depending on the authors, content, and other characteristics.
Explore the differences between scholarly, popular, and trade resources below.
Examples: academic books and academic journal articles.
Examples: magazines, news sites, blogs, etc.
Examples: Police Chief Magazine or Firehouse Magazine.
All information sources have value. The type of source you choose during your research will depend on your information need. Therefore, it's important to understand the strengths and weaknesses of different source types.
Unless otherwise noted, this guide is licensed under a CC BY-SA 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License).
Content on this page was adapted from University of Washington Library's Savvy Info Consumers: What are Scholarly, Popular, & Trade Publications? and University of Texas Libraries Popular, Scholarly, or Trade? The activity 'Scholarly, Popular, or Trade' was adapted from KPU Library's guide Scholarly Publications, which was adapted from “Teach Yourself: Understanding Scholarly Sources” created by North Carolina State University Libraries. All content is published under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.