In the box below (Articles to Evaluate) are three full-text articles from a variety of periodicals. Click on the pdf to view each article.
Review the information in the tabs “Peer Reviewed and Other Definitions” and “Popular, Trade and Scholarly Periodicals”.
There are similarities between popular and trade magazines, therefore it is only necessary for this exercise to evaluate the articles and make a decision as to whether each article is popular/trade OR academic/scholarly.
The information at the bottom of the “Criteria used to differentiate periodicals” provides some of the key characteristics to look for.
Be prepared to discuss in class which articles are popular/trade or academic/scholarly.
Librarian's evaluation of the articles is at the bottom of the page.
Article Evaluation
|
Criteria |
Remarks |
|
Author |
No evidence of advanced academic qualifications |
|
Title of journal |
Has “news” |
|
Type of research |
Secondary reporting of research – “reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences”; quote David Sedlak, environmental engineer, University of California. |
|
References |
None |
|
Writing style |
Includes terminology specific to the field of water treatment technology. Requires some familiarity with the field. |
|
Assessment |
Popular/trade |
|
Criteria |
Remarks |
|
Authors |
Dept of Fibre & Polymer Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology; |
|
Title of journal |
Has “research” in title. Tip: Look at the website for the journal or publisher “The Royal Society of Chemistry publishes 46 peer-reviewed journals. |
|
Type of research/appearance of article |
Original research. Serious. Graphs and charts. Tip: Look for methods, results, discussion and conclusion. |
|
References |
Contains many references to scholarly sounding journals. |
|
Writing style |
Includes terminology specific to the field; many terms may be unfamiliar to non-academics. Formal writing style |
|
Assessment |
Academic/scholarly |
|
Criteria |
Remarks |
|
Author |
No evidence of advanced academic qualifications |
|
Title of journal |
More general, but you would need more evidence |
|
Type of research |
Reporting on a project that appears to be based on good science, but no reference to specific research or academic journals |
|
References |
None |
|
Writing style |
Not very formal |
|
Appearance |
Has advertisements |
|
Assessment |
Popular/trade. More popular than Science News Drinkability article |