Consider the following points when reading a scholarly article:
At some point in your academic career you will probably be asked to locate and use a scholarly or academic resource. As an academic library, Meriam Library collects mostly scholarly resources. What does this mean? Scholarly resources have the following features:
1. They are written by experts - look for an author's credentials or affiliations.
2. They are written for other experts or people in academia. Think of each scholarly work as a voice in an ongoing conversation to which you will add your voice when you write a paper.
3. They use scholarly language with technical, discipline specific vocabulary.
4. They provide verifiable and reliable evidence for claims. Even if the resource is a general history/overview it will contain well researched information that the reader can verify.
5. They may be peer reviewed. Many journals go through an editorial process where other experts review and assess the information.
How do you know if a journal is peer reviewed? Some databases will let you check a box to limit to peer reviewed articles. You can also look at the journal's website which will explain the editorial process including whether or not the journal is peer reviewed.
For more comprehensive journal publication information see below:
Scholarly articles are published in scholarly journals. Most of these journals are discipline specific. For example if you study microbiology you might want to look in the Journal of Bacteriology. If you study Shakespeare you might look at Shakespeare Quarterly. Scholarly articles have certain things in common.
What to look for:
Sometimes you will encounter popular resources. Not only will you need to learn how to differentiate scholarly and popular resources but you will need to know when it is appropriate to use a popular resource. Here is some information about popular resources:
Features of popular resources such as magazines:
- Glossy pictures
- Written for general audiences most likely by non-experts such as journalists
- Easy to locate and purchase
- Catchy headlines and titles
- Articles tend to be short
- Lots of color images and advertisements
- Little or no reference to where the information was obtained
- Examples: Time, Oprah, National Geographic, People, Sports Illustrated
Click the image or use the below PDF for more information.
Much of the research you do throughout your university education will involve databases. Therefore it is a good idea to understand what a database is and how they work. A database is a computerized and structured set of data that can be manipulated and searched. Here is a diagram explaining the structure of many academic databases:
How do you actually go about searching a database? First you will need to have an idea of what to search for. Do you have a topic, general concept, or just a vague idea? Often it helps to write out and pull words from your research question. For example perhaps you want to learn more about video games and their link to violent behavior.
Notice that in the above example that keywords and synonyms are important. You will not type in your whole question into the database. Rather you will pull important terms or concepts from your question. Furthermore, rarely will your first search retrieve the exact results you need. Modify your search as you go. If you are having trouble thinking of synonyms then look at the search results to try and find more relevant or more accurate keywords from the database.
Your search results will look something like this:
Still need help? Talk to a librarian. See the "More Ways to Ask Us" box on the left of this page.
Below are some tips and tricks for using databases:
