Primary vs Secondary Sources
| Criteria | Scholarly (Primary) Journal | Popular (secondary) Magazine |
|---|---|---|
| Sample Cover |  |
 |
| Audience | Academics and professionals | General Public |
| Authors | Experts or specialists in the field. Unpaid | Paid authors |
| Review process | Peer review process. Unpaid. | Professional editors. Paid |
| Content | Research published by the researchers. Written for experts in the field: not easy to read. | Research summarized in a newspaper or magazine. Easy to read. |
| References | Almost always | Rarely |
Source: NCSU Libraries
Open Access Journals
Open access (OA) refers to freely available, digital, online information. Open access scholarly literature is free to access, which makes it available to anyone with an internet connection.
While OA is a newer form of scholarly publishing, many but not all OA journals have a peer-review process.
Note: Some Open Access articles are "Preprints", meaning that the article has not gone through the peer review process or final edits.
Google vs Library Databases
Search tools are indexes of content.
- Google - indexes what is publicly available on the web. Google and other search engines can index publisher websites, but can only provide access to open access content.
- Library databases - index articles and journals and require a password for access. Databases prioritize scholarly resources.
Don't pay for articles that you find online! Copy and paste the title into the citation finder
