FHSU Source Locator

What are popular sources?

An excerpt from Choosing and Using Sources:

These sources, such as books, TV shows, newspaper and magazine articles, podcasts, social media, and most websites, are meant for a large general audience and are generally easy to purchase or available for free. Their subjects include news, politics, government, health, music, art, hobbies, what to buy, entertainment, and opinions about the news—anything, really, that we could be interested in.

These types of sources are more attractive than scholarly journals because they have catchy titles, attractive artwork, and many advertisements. Some might quote named sources, identify how they got their experience and expertise, and provide links to other sources. But you’ll not likely see a formal list of footnotes or references at the end.

These sources are published by both commercial and nonprofit publishers. They are written by staff writers, journalists, and sometimes just by people enthusiastic about the subject matter. News and magazine articles are published after review and approval from editors or producers. But with other examples of popular sources, such as the many forms of social media, they are published without any review at all.

Substantive Popular Sources – This category is a subset of popular sources. Unlike the rest of popular sources, they are aimed at a college-educated audience or those otherwise well-informed in the subject matter, even though they are available to people in general. They may be more difficult for a complete novice to understand.

Their creators are serious about their intent to inform and want to be thorough. These sources are frequently about the news, health, science, societal problems, politics, and government–but they can be about any topic. Even when they are about entertainers or entertainment, they are intended to inform more than to entertain.