Professional sources
These are not real academic sources, but represent higher quality contents among the world of non-academic sources. It is not unusual for such sources to be cited in first-year or second-year college papers, or in certain fields like business, literature studies, or media studies. These sources are written by academic experts, or at least by people with some degree of expertise and professional knowledge in their professional fields, and are written at a college level. They are written by experts for a non-expert but educated audience.
Contents
1 Characteristics
- Author
- The author is either (1) a trained academic expert in the field; or (2) a professional expert, i.e., someone who has years of experience and leadership in a profession, such as business, government, journalism, or education.
- Audience
- The intended audience consists of educated readers, usually with some background knowledge of the subject. This can include those working in a particular profession, for whom the piece is written.
- Information
- The information is of a higher quality and precision. It may be primary or secondary information, or both. It may be primary in the sense that it includes the writer's own expert analysis, or information from investigative research (e.g., news articles). It may be largely secondary, e.g., if the writer is qualified to read and interpret the academic research and explain it to a more general (but educated) audience).
- Quality control
- If it is a media outlet, they try to hire expert journalists (who have expertise and experience in their area), and they have editors who likewise have professional expertise. For books, the writer is an academic or professional expert, and the editor has enough expertise to oversee the book's publication.
2 Types
2.1 Professional trade books
Trade books are books that are sold commercially, e.g., in regular bookstores and online stores. That is, these are not strictly academic books, which are written solely for academic and technical readers. Professional quality trade books are those written by scientists or scholars to a more general but educated audience, namely, to those with a specific interest in the topic. These include books by academic writers who wish to reach a wider audience, and books by business or professinal experts in various fields.
2.2 =Academic authors
These are books by academic experts. These are written for readers who are not experts, but are educated enough to understand the level of writing; these are generally written at a college reading level for an educated audience (who have a basic background knowledge of the field). Examples include:
- Stephen Pinker' books on psychology, language, and other issues, e.g., The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works
- Deborah Tannen's books on gender and communication issues in relationships or in workplaces like You Just Don't Understand and Talking from 9 to 5.
- Books by scientists to educate the public; e.g., Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time.
2.2.1 Business and professional authors
These are often popular and even best-selling books by business experts or professionals in various professional fields. These may also include books on business related topics by writers with a strong academic background. For example:
- Nudge
- The Forty-hour Work Week
- Hook Point
2.3 News outlets
This category includes news outlets that are known for professional quality journalism, investigative reporting, and expert analysis of news and current events.
| Name / site | Format & scope | Location |
|---|---|---|
| ABC News (US) | Traditional nightly TV news | US |
| ABC News (Australia) | Traditional TV news | Australia |
| Al Jazeera | TV news | Qatar |
| The Associated Press | Wire service | US |
| The Atlantic | Magazine; commentary & analysis of news, culture and society | US |
| BBC News | Traditional TV news | UK |
| CBS News | Traditional TV news | US |
| CNN | TV news; general news | US |
| Deutsche Welle | Radio & TV news / TV news | Germany |
| Foreign Affairs | Magazine; in-depth analysis of global affairs | US (published by a famous thinktank, the Council on Foreign Relations) |
| The Globe and Mail | Newspaper | Canada |
| The Guardian | Newspaper | UK |
| The Hill | US political news & commentary | US |
| Huffingtonpost | Magazine format; commentary and analysis of US & international news, politics, society, and culture | US |
| NBC News | Traditional TV news | US |
| The New Yorker | Magazine; commentary & analysis of news, culture and society | US |
| National Public Radio | Radio news | US |
| New York Times | Newspaper | US |
| Reuters | Wire service | Germany |
| Politico | US political news & commentary | US |
| South China Morning Post | Newspaper | Hong Kong |
| Time magazine | Magazine | US |
| The Times of India | Newspaper | India |
| The Wall Street Journal | Newspaper; US & international financial & general news | US |
| The Washington Post | Newspaper | US |
The following are foreign language news sources from around the world.
- Le Monde (France]
- Sverige Tillskott (Sweden)
- El País (Spain)
- Frankfurter Allgemeine (Germany)
- CNTV (China)
- Deutsche Welle (Germany)
- Der Spiegel (Germany)
- Yomiuri (Japan)
- RT (Russia)
- France24 (France)
- Niews (Netherlands)
- De Telegraaf (Netherlands)
The following are news aggregators, which do not do original reporting, but merely aggregate or collect trending stories from many news outlets.
The following provide commentary and analysis from a specific political perspective. They are not intended as general news sources, but as sources of (generally) intelligent political commentary.
- The New Republic (US; liberal)
- The Nation (US; liberal)
- National Review (US; conservative)
- The Weekly Standard (US; conservative)
2.4 Special interest periodicals
These include specialized popular periodicals written by professionals in a particular field, for [1] others in the field (those working in the field, or those interested in the field) who are not necessarily experts, and [2] people who may not be working in the field, but have an interest in it. This includes field-specific news magazines.
2.4.1 Business & financial news
| Name / site | Format & scope | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Bloomberg | TV news | US |
| Business Insider | Magazine | US |
| Business Standard | Newspaper | India |
| CNBC | TV news | US |
| The Economist | Magazine | US |
| The Financial Times | Newspaper | UK |
| Forbes | Magazine | US |
| Fortune | Magazine | US |
| Market Watch | Magazine | US |
| New York Times (business section) | Newspaper | US |
| The Wall Street Journal | Newspaper | US |
2.4.2 Technology & IT news
2.4.3 Science news
2.5 Professional journals
Professional journalsare more specialized journals, written by academic or professional experts in a field, for others who are working in such a field or a related area; or for others with a serious interest in the area. They may have some features in common with more academic sources, such as a tendency for authors to cite more academic sources, use formal citation systems, and to explain applications of research findings. These are often published by professional organizations that serve people in a particular professional area. Professional and trade journals are generally not sold in general bookstores or online stores, but are known to those who work in such fields (or related areas).
2.5.1 Business
- Harvard Business Review http://www.hbr.org
2.5.2 Education
- The Chronicle of Higher Education https://www.chronicle.com
- Inside Higher Ed http://www.insidehighered.com
- Times Higher Education https://www.timeshighereducation.com/
2.5.3 Psychology
These are also for those in various fields who need a practical understanding of psychology topics and research.
- Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com
- Observer https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer (psychology)
2.6 Trade journals
Trade magazines or trade journals are written for people working in a particualr occupation. Professional and trade journals are generally not sold in general bookstores or online stores, but are known to those who work in such fields (or related areas).
- Advertising
- Advertising Age
- Ad Week
- Arts and cultural industries
- TradeArt
- Construction industry
- Cranes Today
- GeoXchange
j;Consumer electronics:
- Popular Mechanics
- Twice
- Food Technology http://www.ift.org/food-technology.aspx
- World Landscape Architecture https://worldlandscapearchitect.com/
