What Is a Scholarly Article?

If your professor requires you to use scholarly sources, how do you determine whether the information you find comes from scholarly sources or from non-scholarly sources?

The chart below offers a quick comparison between scholarly and non-scholarly sources.

Criteria Source	Scholarly Source: Scholarly Journal	Non-Scholarly Source: Trade Publication	Non-Scholarly Source: Popular Magazine	Non-Scholarly Source: Newspaper
Sample Cover
Audience	Academics & Professionals	People in the business	General public	General public
Authors	Experts or specialists (unpaid)	Staff writers, industry professionals, businesses (paid)	Journalists, staff writers, freelance writers (paid)	Journalists, staff writers, freelance writers (paid)
Editorial Review	Journal editorial board and peer reviewers (unpaid)	Professional editors (paid)	Professional editors (paid)	Professional editors (paid)
References/Works Cited	Always	Sometimes	Rarely	Never

Adapted from Infographic for Scholarly and Non-Scholarly Article Rubric. Retrieved from http://gardner-webb.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=21798448.