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Intro to Communication Theory - COMM102 - Sweet

How to skim an article

Read the title and any additional information below or near the title.
Identify the author and anything you can find out about him/her.
Determine the "source" - publication or website the article/webpage is from - what do you know or what can you determine about that source?
Read the first paragraph or first several sentences.
Check how long it is and how it is structured.
Read any headings or noticeable quotes or call-outs in the margins.
Go to the end of the article and see what information about the author, source, or content is provided.

How scholarly articles are organized

Anatomy of a Scholarly Article interactive graphic
From NCSU, color coded descriptions of the different sections of a scholarly article.

Activity

Which source type is it?

Use the links to view and skim the three articles. You may need to login with your G# and password when prompted.

Source Types Used in Activity

Source Type	Intended Audience	Type of Information	Purpose	Examples
Encyclopedia/Reference source	general audience with little or no prior knowledge of topic	widely accepted factual information	to educate readers new to a topic; to provide overview and background information	Wikipedia Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy How Stuff Works
News/Magazine article	general audience with no or little prior knowledge of the topic	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 to potentially persuade an audience that has a particular interest in the topic or subject area to provide an overview of a broad but current topic	Wall Street Journal New York Times Time Psychology Today
Scholarly/Peer Reviewed Journal Article	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	Journal of Applied Research in the Community College Journal of Child & Family Studies

Source Type

Intended Audience

Type of Information

Purpose

Examples

Encyclopedia/Reference source

general audience with little or no prior knowledge of topic

widely accepted factual information

to educate readers new to a topic; to provide overview and background information

Wikipedia

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

How Stuff Works

News/Magazine article

general audience with no or little prior knowledge of the topic

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

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

to provide an overview of a broad but current topic

Scholarly/Peer Reviewed Journal Article

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

Journal of Applied Research in the Community College

Journal of Child & Family Studies

Last Updated: Sep 4, 2025 2:47 PM
URL: https://library.raritanval.edu/comm102
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