The sources listed can be used to find articles from scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers and background information as described in the class presentation.

What is a scholarly article?
A scholarly article contains original research or experimentation by an expert in the field. Apply the following tips and guidelines to find and identify scholarly articles quickly and easily.

What do they look like?
There are several indications that an article is scholarly. Most of the following factors should be present for an article to be considered scholarly:

•  The name of the journal is scholastic: A scholarly journal often has the word “Journal” or the name of a professional or academic association in the title. Popular magazines that you can find at newsstands such as Time, Newsweek, and Forbes do not publish scholarly materials. Journal of the American Psychological Association and Journal of Physical Chemistry are scholarly journals.

• The article is peer reviewed: The article has gone through the peer review or referee process, meaning another expert in the field has evaluated the article and approved its content for publication.

•  A scholarly article is several pages, not just one or two.

•   A scholarly article uses outside research to support its thesis, and cites the references it uses.

•   The author will usually be an expert in the field, have some academic affiliation, or have written other research articles

• The abstract has research-related words: Words such as research, study, data, survey, statistical, or other research-related words may be included in the abstract of the article.

Adapted from Illinois Institute of Technology Reference Services Handout.