REL 1401: Intro to Western Religions: Scholarly vs. Popular

How do I know if it's a scholary article?

Scholary articles generally....

• Are 5 or more pages, often over 10 pages


• Contain "in-text" citations referring to a bibliography at end of article, or footnotes at the bottom of pages


• Are broken into different sections


• Use formal, often techical, language


• Provide close analysis of a topic


• Are published in scholarly (also called academic or peer-reviewed) journals

The table below gives you some tips on distinguishing between scholarly and popular periodicals and the articles found in them. Though the table doesn't discuss encyclopedia articles, the content of specialized scholarly encyclopedias as found in this course guide are also legitimate sources for research.