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Popular
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vs. |
Scholarly
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| journalists, non-experts | author | researchers and experts |
| newspapers, popular magazines, books | source | academic journals, books |
| general information | purpose | to share research findings |
| general public | audience | other researchers and scholars |
| everyday language | vocabulary | specialized vocabulary |
| few or no citations provided | citations | provide for all sources |
The information in this tabbed box is adapted from "Evaluating Information" by Carina Cournoyer (2020) at the Brown University Library. Images on this page were created by Carina Cournoyer and Ben Tyler (2020) at the Brown University Library.
Let's look an article from The Bump.com entitled, "These Are the Healthiest Fast Food Kid’s Meals, Study Shows" Using the criteria in this section, we can see that this article is intended for a popular audience.
| Purpose: | The primary purpose of this article is to inform readers of the healthier choices that can be made at fast food restaurants. There is perhaps a secondary purpose: to provide emotional encouragement to parents. |
| Audience: | Parents of young children |
| Standards: | The content in the article appears to be a summary of an article written in a different popular publication, with some additional commentary. |
| Transparency: | The article refers to another article as its source. That other article cites its research as: "Dedicated Health news analysis involving hours of navigating fast food websites...we selected the kids' meal option with the lowest calorie count from each outlet." |
| Accountability: | The author is a reporter who states that they have a background in sociology and medicine, but provides no credentials. |
| Publication Model: | The webpage has many advertisements, customized to the readers' search history. There are multiple links to products and social media outlets, generating traffic and advertising revenue. From the source's website they state "Healthnews is an online site that educates people on a myriad of health topics and guides readers through informational chaos, providing the most up-to-date, science-led, fact-based medical information in a language that is easy to understand." No other information about their ownership or affiliations is provided. |
Let's look at a report from the National Restaurant Association about annual food trends: "What's Hot 2024."
| Purpose: | Inform business planning and decision making in the food industry about the top food trends in consumer interest for the year ahead. |
| Audience: | Restaurants and other service providers in the restaurant industry. |
| Standards: | The report is based on results from the expertise of more than 1,500 culinary professionals who were asked to rank 120 items in 7 categories (Survey fielded Oct. 9-23, 2023). |
| Transparency: | It appears that the report is based entirely on the survey results. |
| Accountability: | No authors are listed in the report. A person with communications responsibilities is listed as the contact for comments and questions. |
| Publication Model: | The report directly supports the interests of the member organizations. There is no advertising in the report or in this associations' web site. |
Here is an example of what a scholarly article on the topic of marketing healthy food looks like. It is a journal article entitled, "McHealthy: How Marketing Incentives Influence Healthy Food Choices," published in the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly.
Chan, E. K., Kwortnik, R., & Wansink, B. (2017). McHealthy: How Marketing Incentives Influence Healthy Food Choices. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly 58(1), 6–22.
| Purpose: | Examination of the impact of marketing on food choices. The journal is produced by The Hotel School in the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University with the aim to provide the latest research in hospitality management. |
| Audience: | Researchers who study related topics. The authors reference possible interest from the food industry and policy makers. |
| Standards: | Articles published in Cornell Hospitality Quarterly have been peer-reviewed. The authors affirm that they have no potential conflicts of interest and have not received financial support related to this research. |
| Transparency: | The three authors and their affiliations are listed at the top of the paper. |
| Accountability: | The article references previous research, particularly at the start of the article when the authors report on other research on this topic that supports the work they are doing. Detailed research findings are reported in the article and are the basis for the conclusions drawn. |
| Publication Model: | While the journal is managed by Cornell University, it is published and distributed by Sage Journals, which charges subscribers, such as libraries, for access to the content. The link on this page is to the openly available Cornell repository for faculty research. |
