Scholarly vs. popular vs. sponsored sources — URL-suffix heuristics and database literacy

Show 3 sample sources on screen (one .edu academic article, one .com magazine article, one .com sponsored advocacy page). Don't reveal type. Ask: rank by credibility for a research paper.

• Collect votes
• Reveal types and discuss surprises
• Tee up that URL is a HEURISTIC, not a guarantee

Today we add a second source-classification dimension to primary/secondary: SCHOLARLY, POPULAR, or SPONSORED. SCHOLARLY sources are peer-reviewed — experts have evaluated the work before publication. Written by experts for experts; technical vocabulary; full citations and references; published by universities or scholarly societies. Examples: Journal of American History, Nature, JSTOR-indexed articles. URL suffixes often .edu, sometimes .org. POPULAR sources are written by journalists or writers for general audiences. Accessible vocabulary; fact-checked but not peer-reviewed; usually has a byline. Examples: The Atlantic, National Geographic, The New York Times. URL .com or .org. SPONSORED sources have a commercial, political, or advocacy motive. They may be paid content, native advertising, or organizational PR. They may still be accurate but the motive must be weighed. Examples: company blogs, lobbying organization websites, advertorials. URL .com often, .org sometimes. The URL-suffix HEURISTIC: .edu often academic, but can be student personal pages. .gov is government, usually credible for government data. .org is often nonprofit but can be advocacy. .com is usually commercial. .net has no consistent signal. Heuristic = STARTING evidence, not verdict. Database literacy: JSTOR holds scholarly articles in humanities and social sciences; Gale and EBSCO are aggregators across many disciplines; ProQuest holds dissertations and newspapers. Knowing the database tells you something about the source.

• When you find a scholarly source on your topic, USE IT. Sometimes harder to read but worth the effort.

  model Scholarly. Peer-reviewed + Ph.D. author + university press + scholarly journal. Highest credibility for research.

  prompt Classify: a 2021 article in Journal of African History published by Cambridge University Press, by a tenured Ph.D., peer-reviewed.
• Popular sources are CITABLE but with awareness of the gap from peer review.

  model Popular. NYT is fact-checked but not peer-reviewed. Author has expertise in adjacent area. Still credible for research as long as you note 'journalist, not academic historian.'

  prompt Classify: a 2023 New York Times article on the Mali Empire, by a journalist with degrees in African history.
• Sponsored doesn't mean unusable. It means transparent about purpose.

  model Sponsored (advocacy). The data may be accurate but the source advocates a position. Cite with awareness of motive — and prefer the IPCC primary source if available.

  prompt Classify: a 2022 .org website by 'Climate Future Coalition' (advocacy organization) citing IPCC data and policy recommendations.
• URL suffix is heuristic. Always verify the actual source.

  model Personal page — neither scholarly nor popular journalism. NOT citable as scholarly. The .edu suffix misleads if you only check the suffix.

  prompt Classify: a .edu URL with .student.uni-name.edu showing a personal blog by a freshman.

• Pair-share: name 1 scholarly source, 1 popular source, and 1 sponsored source you might encounter for your research question.
• Cold Call: what does a .org URL suffix tell you? What doesn't it tell you?
• Thumbs: I can classify sources by type (up) / I need re-explanation on sponsored (down)

M-7-F-RES-05-A Chart

MG-5 anchor displayed: 3-column card scholarly gold / popular blue / sponsored red. Each column with definition + URL-suffix heuristic + example. Bottom rule: 'URL suffixes are heuristics, not guarantees.' Print-ready 11x17.

MG-5 Chart

Scholarly vs. popular vs. sponsored source anchor: 3-column card. SCHOLARLY (left, gold) — peer-reviewed, written by experts for experts, published in academic journals; citations and references; technical vocabulary; published by universities or scholarly societies. Examples: Journal of American History, Nature, JSTOR-indexed articles. URL suffixes often .edu, sometimes .org. POPULAR (middle, blue) — written for general audiences by journalists or writers, accessible vocabulary, fact-checked but not peer-reviewed; often has author byline but no academic citations. Examples: The Atlantic, National Geographic, The New York Times. URL .com or .org. SPONSORED (right, red) — has a commercial, political, or advocacy motive; may be paid content, native advertising, or organizational PR; may still be accurate but the motive must be weighed. Examples: company blogs, lobbying organization websites, advertorials. URL .com often, .org sometimes. Bottom rule: 'URL suffixes are HEURISTICS, not guarantees. .org can be scholarly (Brookings) OR sponsored (advocacy group). .edu can be a student's personal page. Always verify.' Print-ready 11x17.

• Source-type sort: with partner, sort 20-card deck into SCHOLARLY / POPULAR / SPONSORED / NEEDS-INVESTIGATION piles. Defend any NEEDS-INVESTIGATION cards.

  scaffold MG-5 anchor; URL-suffix heuristic card on desk
• Database mini-demo: with school library access (or instructor demo), look up a topic in JSTOR. What kinds of results appear? Compare to a Google search for the same topic.

  scaffold Database-name reference card; comparison sheet (JSTOR results vs. Google results)

M-7-F-RES-05-B Interactive Physical / non-image

Source-type sort deck of 20 cards. Each card has: source title, URL, author info, publisher, publication date. Reverse has source-type answer + reasoning. Print-ready card stock.

M-7-F-RES-05-C Chart

Database-name reference card: 4 databases listed with 1-sentence description, source-type signal (scholarly / mixed / aggregator), and access info. Reverse has a comparison: Google vs. database search. Print-ready 8.5x11.

• For your 4-6 candidate sources: classify each as scholarly / popular / sponsored. Identify 1 of each (if possible) and explain why you can verify the classification beyond the URL suffix.

• Restate: scholarly = peer-reviewed; popular = journalistic; sponsored = motive-driven. URL suffix is heuristic.
• Preview tomorrow's research-paper launch + citation-ribbon note-taking workflow

• Finalize your 4-6 source list for the research paper. Each source must pass CRAAP and be classified as scholarly, popular, or sponsored. Bring tomorrow — we start note-taking.