Scholarly or Popular--Which Should I Use?

There are several factors to consider when deciding whether or not you need to use scholarly sources:

First, you should consider the requirements of the assignment. While there may be some assignments where you are required to use only scholarly sources, in most cases, at the undergraduate level, you will be allowed to use a mix of scholarly and popular sources.
Second, think about the kind of information you need. Scholarly articles usually have a narrow focus, so if you need a broad overview of your topic, a scholarly article will probably not provide you with the information you need.
Third, depending on your topic, it may simply be the case that there are few (or no) scholarly sources available. For example, if you want to write about the artistic quality of a recently released movie, there will probably not be scholarly sources available, due to the time it takes to write and publish a scholarly article. In such cases, your research should focus on finding high-quality popular sources. Keep in mind that a source does not have to be a scholarly journal article to be considered a credible or trustworthy source.