Databases like Academic Search Premier contain different types of articles. Keep this is mind when you look at your list of results.
What type of information do you need for your research?
POPULAR | SCHOLARLY | PROFESSIONAL | |
Purpose | To inform and entertain the general reader | To communicate research and scholarly ideas | To apply information; to provide professional support |
Audience | General public | Other scholars, students | Practitioners in the field, professionals |
Coverage | Broad variety of public interest topics, cross disciplinary | Very narrow and specific subjects | Information relevant to field and members of a group |
Publisher | Commercial | Professional associations; academic institutions; and many commercial publishers | Professional, occupational, or trade group |
Writers | Employees of the publication, freelancers (including journalists and scholars) | Scholars, researchers, experts, usually listed with their institutional affiliation | Members of the profession, journalists, researchers, scholars |
Characteristics |
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Frequency | Frequent, on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis | Less frequent, on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis | Frequent, on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis |
Examples | Time, US News and World Report, Modern Healthcare | Academy of Management Journal | Training, HR Magazine |
Based on Popular Literature vs. Scholarly Peer-Reviewed Literature:What's the Difference?, http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/scholarly_articles#4