Welcome to UAB Libraries' guide to identifying the differences between academic versus popular sources! Here you will learn the difference between the two types of sources, why the difference is important, and when they are appropriate to use. We will also give some real-life examples.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out to our Freshman Composition and Student Success Librarian, Sydney Orason, at sorason@uab.edu!
This short document lays out the differences between academic and popular resources with an easy-to-use chart.
The design of this page was partly adapted from Research: By Course, Subject, or Topic, by University of Arizona Libraries, © 2020 The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of The University of Arizona, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
