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Scholarly Journals
Examples: Urban Studies, International Journal of Urban Studies, Urban Geographer, Cities
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- Have a serious look with charts and graphs but few glossy pictures
- Have articles that are written by a scholar in the field, discipline or specialty
- Often subjected to peer review process. Is it peer reviewed? Check out Queen’s Library Evaluating Sources page to see:
- Report on original research or experimentation
- Have articles that use the terminology and language of the covered subject
- Have articles that are footnoted and/or have a bibliography
- Generally published by a professional organization or a scholarly press
- Contain selective advertising
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General Interest & Popular Magazines
Examples: The New Yorker, Maclean's, National Geographic
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- Attractive in appearance and heavily illustrated with photographs
- Provides information in a general manner to a broad audience
- Articles generally written by a member of the editorial staff or free-lance
- Language of articles geared to an educated audience, no subject expertise assumed
- Sources are sometimes cited but more often there are no footnotes or bibliography
- Contains advertising and published by commercial enterprises for profit
- Have short articles, written in simple language, with little depth
- The purpose is to entertain and inform the general public
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Trade Publications
Examples: Oil and Gas Investor, World Oil, MacWorld, Industry World, Byte
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- Articles written by experts in the field for other experts in the field
- Provide news, product information, advertising and trade articles to people in a particular industry or profession
- Articles use specialized jargon of the discipline
- Similar in nature to popular magazines in the use of graphics and photographs
- Published through a professional association
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Advocacy Groups
Examples:
Green Peace, Mining Watch Canada
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- Organizations that try to influence public policy and/or change the public's opinion on a particular issue or more generally promoting an ideology
- Often referred to as lobby and public/special interest groups
- Can include non-profit organizations
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News and Newspaper
Examples: BBC World News,
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- Newspapers keep you up to date on current affairs and can also serve as primary sources and put events into historical context.
- Often published on a daily basis providing up to date information that may not be reflected in other sources
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Blogs
Examples: City Lab, Twitter
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- Without a complex publication process blogs often have the most up to date information which can be cited and used for academic work
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