Popular sources, including newspapers and magazines, can be identified more easily in print. You will see the following characteristics:
Magazines and newspapers have many photos to attract and entertain readers as well as advertisements that support the publication.
However, in the databases, you might not see these visual clues so look for other features in popular sources.
Popular publications are directed at the general public so the language in the text and titles is fairly straightforward and direct. The authors are trying to inform or entertain the largest number of readers.
Popular articles do not have abstracts (summaries of the content of the articles).
Popular publications do not include references, bibliographies, or endnotes to show readers what sources the authors used in their research.
The popular publications are NOT generally written by specialists in the field. The editors reviewing the article do not have to be specialists in the field either since the purpose of the article is to inform the general public, not specialists.
If you find a popular article summarizing a scientific study, you should try to locate the original study to make sure that the popular article is accurate. See Bad Science for more details on misinterpretations of science.