Scholarly Articles Basics

Scholarly articles are written by an expert in the field or by someone who has conducted research in the field. Scholarly articles are also known as peer-reviewed articles because they undergo a rigorous review process by other experts in the field.

Generally speaking, the information found in scholarly articles is more reliable than information found elsewhere. It is important to identify scholarly articles and prioritize them in your own research.

Scholarly articles include the following:

Expert Authors

• Scholarly articles are written by experts in their respective fields rather than generalists. Expertise often comes in the form of academic credentials and experience.

Peer-review

• Peer-review is the process whereby scholarly articles are vetted and improved. In this process an author submits an article to a journal for publication. However, before publication, an editor of the journal will send the article to other experts in the field to solicit their informed and professional opinions of it. These reviewers (sometimes called referees) will give the editor feedback regarding the quality of the article. Based on this process, articles may be published as is, published after specific changes are made, or not published at all.

Citations

• Unlike other types of articles, scholarly articles include citations and bibliographies, allowing readers to trace the author's sources and independently verify or question the article’s claims.