What is a scholarly publication?
A scholarly publication is a collection of articles that is usually published by a professional association such as the American Sociological Association.
What is meant by a peer reviewed or refereed journal?
Journals that are peer reviewed or refereed are those that have been submitted to, and approved by a field of experts or an editorial board in a particular discipline.
How can I tell if an article is peer reviewed?
One of the best ways to ensure your article is peer reviewed is to limit your search to only peer-reviewed articles. Usually, most databases provide a box you can click that will limit your search results to ONLY peer-reviewed journal articles.
Ebsco also maintains title lists for their major databases that indicate which titles are peer-reviewed. These lists are here: https://www.ebscohost.com/title-lists
What is the purpose of a scholarly journal?
The purpose of a scholarly journal is to make available to the scholarly community original research and experimentation findings.
Who authors scholarly research?
Researchers, scholars and those who are considered experts in their field.
What do scholarly journals contain?
Scholarly journals contain articles written by researchers or experts in a particular field. They usually contain original research and results and methods of experimentation. An extensive bibliography is found at the end of each article and sometimes footnotes at the end of each page.
What is an abstract of an article?
An abstract is a short summary of an article that precedes the main article.
Examples of scholarly journals: Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy ; Journal of Economic History ; Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly ; Modern Fiction Studies
What is a popular publication/magazine?
A popular publication is one that covers current events, general interest topics, and news stories.
What is the purpose of a popular publication/magazine?
The purpose of a popular magazine is to entertain or inform readers about general interest topics.
Who authors articles in popular publications/magazines?
Authors are usually journalists, popular authors or students.
Are popular publications acceptable when writing papers for college or graduate school?
Not usually. Most professors expect students to use scholarly journals when writing research papers.
Examples of popular publications: People ; Time ; Newsweek ; Sports Illustrated
It's often difficult to tell the difference between original research articles and review articles. Here are some explanations and tips that may help:
"Review articles are often as lengthy or even longer that original research articles. What the authors of review articles are doing in analysing and evaluating current research and investigations related to a specific topic, field, or problem. They are not primary sources since they review previously published material. They can be of great value for identifying potentially good primary sources, but they aren't primary themselves.
Primary research articles can be identified by a commonly used format. If an article contains the following elements, you can count on it being a primary research article. Look for sections titled:
You can also read the abstract to get a good sense of the kind of article that is being presented.
If it is a review article instead of a research article, the abstract should make that pretty clear. If there is no abstract at all, that in itself may be a sign that it is not a primary resource. Short research articles, such as those found in Science and similar scientific publications that mix news, editorials, and forums with research reports, however, may not include any of those elements. In those cases look at the words the authors use, phrases such as "we tested" and "in our study, we measured" will tell you that the article is reporting on original research."*
*Taken from Ithaca College Libraries
"Peer Review is a process that journals use to ensure the articles they publish represent the best scholarship currently available. When an article is submitted to a peer reviewed journal, the editors send it out to other scholars in the same field (the author's peers) to get their opinion on the quality of the scholarship, its relevance to the field, its appropriateness for the journal, etc.
Publications that don't use peer review (Time, Cosmo, Salon) just rely on the judgement of the editors whether an article is up to snuff or not. That's why you can't count on them for solid, scientific scholarship."*
How can I tell if an article is peer reviewed?
One of the best ways to ensure your article is peer reviewed is to limit your search to only peer-reviewed articles. Usually, most databases provide a box you can click that will limit your search results to ONLY peer-reviewed journal articles.
Here are some examples:
Ebsco also maintains title lists for their major databases that indicate which titles are peer-reviewed. These lists are here: https://www.ebscohost.com/title-lists
*Taken from University of Texas @Austin Libraries
