There are a few ways to find popular press articles.

• The Perch - This collection of magazines, newspapers, and journals is available across from the New Books section on the first floor of Main Library. You can connect to many of the resources digitally via the guide. 
• It's okay to try a search engine like Google. You will have to look at the URLs and verify that your results are from published media, but you may be able to find articles this way. URL addresses that include names like www.rd.com (Reader's Digest) or www.womenshealthmag.com (Women's Health Magazine) or www.time.com (TIME), for example, would be useful popular press sites. The bonus of looking online is that you may find links to other relevant articles and sources!
• Browsing the magazines or newspapers in a check-out lane or the public library can provide some of these scientific-claim articles.
• Don't overlook your social media either - does that TikTok video talk about the "proven" way to grow longer hair or make another fantastic claim? Track down their source as your popular media article.
• Consult the references in a scholarly article - writers will often utilize both scholarly and popular articles when writing on a topic.
• Search InfoHawk+ and our databases of popular press media, listed below. In InfoHawk+, Include your search terms, beginning with broad terms and then narrowing your results. For example, to research if coffee grounds are good for gardens, include "coffee grounds" AND "garden" as the two search terms. Use quotation marks around phrases or names. Limit your results to magazines, if that is an option. You can limit by publication years or locations, if necessary. InfoHawk+ is not necessarily the best option for finding dubious science claims, but these tips may be useful for trying to find the original studies! 

Source: Compound Interest, "A Rough Guide to Spotting Bad Science" by Andy Brunning. The graphic is shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. Original image at https://www.compoundchem.com/2014/04/02/a-rough-guide-to-spotting-bad-science/. 

Scholarly writing is typically evidence-based, formal writing that addresses a specific research topic. It is written by experts in their fields for other people in the field and includes citations and references.

• Search InfoHawk+. Our catalog does a good job of listing books and many articles based on your queries. It does not catalog every database, so searching the databases specifically may produce different results. Limit by Peer Reviewed Journals. You can also limit by date or other criteria to help your search.
• Not all popular press is going to properly cite the research they used. If the popular press article provides any information on the research, include it in your InfoHawk+ or database search!
• Search recommended databases (found on the next tab).
• Already know which journal you want to search? You can find it via e-journals. Enter the title, then browse the resource. You can also find journals within databases and search there. Just narrow to the desired publication using the database's filters.

Well...um...not always. Not what you wanted to read, right? The University of Iowa Libraries strives to keep our resources credible but there are constantly attempts to present a questionable or predatory publisher or journal as credible.

So what is predatory publishing and why does it matter? You can find more information here, but essentially predatory publishers and journals exploit academic authors, either intentionally or through neglect and mismanagement. This is a harmful practice, enhanced by the need of academics to publish. It can negatively impact credibility of the work, the author, and those who cite it. 

How will I know? If you want more information on publishers and journals, consider these resources:

• Ulrichweb - A bibliographic database providing detailed and authoritative information on journals and other serials published throughout the world.
• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) - DOAJ works to build an equitable and diverse scholarly ecosystem where trusted research can be accessed globally without barriers. It is a founder of Think.Check.Submit., created to help researchers identify trusted journals and publishers for their research.
• There are some detailed methods for evaluating publishers and journals. One is the "Stupid Journal Tricks" section from Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers by Mike Caulfield. Also useful is the Journal Evaluation Tool by Shilpa Rele, Marie Kennedy, and Nataly Blas.

Reading a scholarly article can be a little intimidating! They follow a unique format and can be quite lengthy. Use this guide to help get a quick understanding of the article before you invest your time in reading the entire piece.

Source: Undergraduate Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for use or adaptation of materials. Used with permission. Original image at https://guides.library.illinois.edu/c.php?g=348324&p=2351069.