Database Guide

Scholarly Articles

Scholarly, Academic, or Peer Review Articles are terms used to describe articles written by experts in a specific field. Scholarly Articles are found in major Scholarly Journals. The following list provides names of major Scholarly Journals. 

How can I tell if an article is scholarly?

There are several ways to determine whether an article qualifies as "scholarly" or "peer-reviewed". First it depends on how you found the source. If you are using library databases - you can limit the search to peer-reviewed journals. Many databases will have this feature to allow you to limit searches for scholarly, peer-reviewed, or academic sources.  

Here are some qualities that set them apart from "popular" sources such as newspapers, magazines, etc.

• Purpose: is to communicate research and scholarly ideas.
• Author(s): are researchers, scholars, experts, and/or faculty, and they will typically have an institutional affiliation listed. Authors will have a Master's or doctoral degree (Ph.D.)
• Citations: should have a works cited/references/bibliography with full citations.
• Length:  usually long, typically range between 8 and 30+ pages. 
• Audience: is other researchers, scholars, and/or faculty.
• Coverage: tends to be focused and narrow. 
• Publisher: are usually university presses, professional associations, academic institutions, and commercial publishers.
• Peer-review process can take months if not years--from the time that an article is submitted for review and ultimate publication.
• What it is NOT: some parts of scholarly journals are not peer-reviewed. These include book reviews and letters/responses to the editor.

Source: "What are Scholarly Sources?" CSUN University Library, 23 Feb. 2022, https://libguides.csun.edu/research-strategies/scholarly.