Oral Communication

Scholarly journals are also called academic, peer-reviewed, or refereed journals. Strictly speaking, peer-reviewed (also called refereed) journals refer only to those scholarly journals that submit articles to several other scholars, experts, or academics (peers) in the field for review and comment. These reviewers must agree that the article represents properly conducted original research or writing before it can be published.

What to look for...

Scholarly journal articles often have an abstract, a descriptive summary of the article contents, before the main text of the article.

Scholarly journals generally have a sober, serious look. They often contain many graphs and charts but few glossy pages or exciting pictures.

Scholarly journals almost always cite their sources in the form a bibliography or a reference list at the end of the article.. These reference lists are generally lengthy and cite other scholarly writings.

Articles are written by a scholar in the field or by someone who has done research in the field. The affiliations of the authors are listed, usually at the bottom of the first page or at the end of the article--universities, research institutions, think tanks, and the like.

The language of scholarly journals is that of the discipline covered. It assumes some technical background on the part of the reader.

The main purpose of a scholarly journal is to report on original research or experimentation in order to make this information available to the rest of the scholarly world.

Examples of Scholarly Journals

Substantive News and General Interest

These sources may be quite attractive in appearance, although some are in newspaper format in their printed versions. Articles are often illustrated, generally with photographs.

What to look for...

News and general interest periodicals rarely cite sources.

Articles may be written by a member of the editorial staff, a scholar or a free lance writer. The author information is called a byline in news sources.

The language of these publications is geared to any educated audience. There is no specialty assumed, only interest and a certain level of intelligence.

They are generally published by commercial enterprises or individuals, although some emanate from specific professional organizations.

The main purpose of periodicals in this category is to provide information, in a general manner, to a broad audience of concerned citizens.

Examples of Substantive Sources

Popular

Popular sources come in many formats, although often slick and attractive in appearance with lots of color graphics (photographs, drawings, etc.).

These publications do not cite sources in a reference list. Information published in popular periodicals is often second or third hand and the original source is rarely mentioned.

Articles are usually very short and written in simple language.

The main purpose of popular periodicals is to entertain the reader, to sell products (their own or their advertisers), or to promote a viewpoint.

Examples of Popular Sources

Sensational and Tabloid

Sensational periodicals come in a variety of styles, but most often use a small newspaper format. "Tabloid" newspapers have been a staple in the U.S. since the 19th century.

Sensational and tabloid publications use elementary, inflammatory language meant to arouse curiosity, cater to popular superstitions, increase sales, and promote the publisher's political agenda. They often do so with flashy headlines designed to astonish (e.g., Half-man Half-woman Makes Self Pregnant) or by falsely reporting on domestic and international events. Fake news is an example of this kind of reporting.