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The LibGuide of your librarian for the day, AR (they/them).

General vs. Academic Sources

Skim your article and look at the information about the article that surrounds the text. What can you determine about the author, publisher, and intended audience?

  1. Who is the intended audience of this article?
  2. What kind of information do you get from this article?
  3. What is the purpose?
  4. What type of source is this?

  1. Who is the intended audience of this article?
  2. What kind of information do you get from this article?
  3. What is the purpose?
  4. What type of source is this?

Please note: These are guiding questions, you do not need to answer them unless they are helpful to you in determining which source type your group has been assigned.

Common Source Types

Source type Audience Type of information Purpose

News/Magazine 

(in print and online)

general audience who does not need prior knowledge of the topic

OR

general audience with no or little prior knowledge of the topic

the most current information that is known at the time the article was published

usually short articles that cover a topic on the surface without a lot of depth or background

OR

information and opinions about popular topics, current events, and social issues

short articles are on a surface level; longer articles may go more in-depth or cover a wide variety of perspectives on the topic

to inform readers about current events and issues usually at a surface level

OR

to inform and potentially persuade an audience that has a particular interest in the topic or subject area

to provide an overview of many aspects of a broad topic

Scholarly/peer reviewed journal 

(in library database or on the internet)

 academic audience of scholars and experts in a field

articles written by scholars for other scholars often on a very narrow topic

articles are often peer-reviewed, or reviewed by other experts in the field for quality, originality, and value to the scholarly conversation on the topic 

to share the results of a research study or in-depth analysis of an issue with other scholars 

to participate in a scholarly conversation about a topic of research interest to the author