Scholarly journals are where the experts talk to each other. This is where the newest research and ideas are first published. Sometimes researchers develop their journal articles into books.
Scholarly articles can be challenging to understand. Keep a dictionary handy and read encyclopedia articles for background in the field.
Instructors frequently require scholarly, peer-reviewed articles. Peer review is when another expert in the field reads the article before it is published in order to confirm that the methods used in the article conform to the requirements of the field.
Magazines and journals are called periodicals because they are issued on a regular or "periodic" basis – they might arrive daily, weekly, monthly, four times a year (quarterly), once a year (annually) or anything in between. Periodicals are usually separated into two major groups: popular and scholarly.
Use popular magazines when you need:
Use a Newspaper to:
Use scholarly journals (also called academic or scientific journals) when you need:
As a supplement to our databases, try using Google Scholar to find articles about your topic. Google Scholar will also tell you how many authors cite the article, so you can gauge how well regarded the article is.
Most of these databases include non-scholarly material. Look for the Scholarly or Peer-review button and check it.
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