Practice your CRAP Skills!
Use the C.R.A.A.P Test to determine the quality of the information you are using. The test can be applied to all types of information: journal & magazine articles; books & book chapters, websites, blogs, reports, etc.
Analyzing Periodicals
CATEGORY |
Scholarly |
Professional |
General |
Purpose |
to share original research with the academic community and other scholars; to share critical analysis, literary analysis, contextual analysis of literature, arts, philosophy, etc. |
trends, news and information for the field |
current events, news, popular culture, and entertainment |
Author |
researchers, scholars and experts |
people in field, specialized journalists |
journalists |
Length |
longer, in-depth articles |
some lengthy, mostly shorter articles |
short, a few pages at the most |
Language |
uses vocabulary of the discipline |
uses the jargon of the field |
simple, general vocabulary |
Publisher |
university & scholarly presses, professional organizations |
professional organizations and trade publishers |
commercial and trade publishers |
Sources |
footnotes & bibliographies always included |
usually cited, but not as extensive |
generally not cited |
Graphics |
charts, tables, almost no advertisements |
some illustrations & ads related to the profession |
lots of photographs and advertisements |
Examples |
The Classical Journal; Bryn Mawr Classical Review; Classical Philology; |
New Criterion; New Yorker; The Atlantic |
Time, Newsweek, People, USA Today |
Primary - Raw evidence/data that needs to be interpreted. | Secondary - work of others who interpret the primary data/evidence. |
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