Media & Society

• Scholarly: In-depth, research-based articles, books, and book chapters written by scholars and experts and intended for other researchers, experts, and students.

• Popular: Articles, books, and book chapters written by journalists or professional writers for a general audience in common language (e.g., newspapers and magazines).

• Trade: Practical information published as articles, books, and book chapters written by professionals in the field for other professionals in the field, including news, trends, and other updates.

Learn more: What is Scholarly?

Learn more: To research information about journals, magazines, and newspapers, look up the source in Ulrichsweb Periodicals Directory.

Scholarly, popular, and trade articles can be found on the web and through Trexler Library.  That is why it is so important to be able to identify them yourself!  When you search a library database, read the description below the database to see what kinds of materials are included in the collection.

• For information on why to cite your sources and how to avoid plagiarism, see the Get Started with Library Research: Cite Sources guide. 

• For information on APA Style, see:
  • APA Style (Trexler Library, Muhlenberg College)
    Examples of in-text and reference list citation formatting.
  • APA Style (Purdue Online Writing Lab) 
    General orientation to APA Style, plus examples of paper and citation formatting.
  • APA Documentation Guide (University of Wisconsin)
    General orientation to APA Style, plus examples of paper and citation formatting.
• For information on Chicago Style, see:
  • Chicago Manual of Style Online
  • Chicago Style (Trexler Library, Muhlenberg College)
• Zotero
  "Free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources." Download instructions and help available on the site.

To get the full text of an article, consider the following options:

- If you are in Encompass Search or a library database, look for "Check for Full Text buttons," "Access Online," or "Check eResources" buttons. These buttons will take you the full text of the article or tell you that the full text cannot be found. If the full text is not available from Trexler Library, look for buttons to request the item from another library via interlibrary loan. Or go directly to the interlibrary loan request forms.

- If you have citation information for the article (i.e., journal title, article title, publication year, etc.), type the information about your article in Encompass Search on the library website. If the library subscribes to the full text, you will be directed to the article (see first bullet above). If not, you can request a copy of the article via interlibrary loan.

- If Trexler Library does not have access to the full text of the article, search Google Scholar by article title to see if the author has made a copy freely available online. If not, you can request a copy of the article via interlibrary loan.