Scholarly v Popular v Trade
Here is a breakdown of different forms of articles you may see while searching. You can begin to find which are reliable to use as your sources.
| Criteria | Scholarly Journal | Popular Magazine | Trade Journal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cover |  |
 |
 |
| Audience | Academics and professionals | General public | People in the business |
| Authors | Experts or specialists | Journalists, staff writers, or freelance writers. Paid. | Staff writers, industry specialists, or vendor representatives. |
| Editorial Review |
Journal editorial board and peer reviewers. (See image below) |
Professional editors. | Professional editors. |
| References / Works Cited | Almost always | Rarely | Sometimes |
| Other Examples | Magazines, Newspapers(some), Social Media |
Before a scholarly article or book gets published, there is a process that has to happen before you can read it.
Is this Fact or Opinion/Bias??
In order to tell the difference between fact and opinion, we need to know their definitions:
Fact: Something that can easily be confirmed through trusted sources, and is confirmable across many sources; facts are objectively true. Objective means it doesn't matter who you are or how you feel about the information: the reality of the fact doesn't change
- A molecule of water is made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom
- We know this is a fact because we could open any chemistry textbook and confirm it, or if we asked around, we would receive the same answer from almost everyone (not everyone remembers high school chemistry!). If you can only find 'proof' of something in one location -- one news site, blog, talk show, or podcast -- it is much more likely to be misinformation or opinion
Opinion: Something that cannot be formally 'confirmed' through any resource because it is linked to individual feelings, thoughts, and experiences; put another way, opinions are subjective; when you attempt to 'confirm' an opinion, you will get many differing responses!
- Cats are much better than dogs
- This statement isn't confirmable, because everyone I ask will have a different opinion, and no two information resources will give the same response either
- Instead of simply stating something, there is biased, subjective language: "much better". What makes one pet "much better" than another? What is "much better" to one person might be a nightmare to another, making this statement unconfirmable
- This statement also contains cultural bias: This statement assumes a culture where animals are brought into our homes and treated as part of our family. The concept of keeping pets is not universal, so this statement cannot be universally true