What is a Scholarly Article?
Both scholarly and peer-reviewed articles are written by experts in academic or professional fields. Scholarly articles are published in journals for specific academic disciplines. Many scholarly journals are also peer-reviewed.
Peer-reviewed articles are submitted to reviewers who are experts in the field. Because the reviewers specialize in the same scholarly area as the author, they are considered the author’s peers (hence “peer review”).
Both scholarly and peer-reviewed articles are excellent places to find what has been studied or researched on a topic, as well as find references to additional relevant sources of information.
Databases (multidisciplinary)
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Multidisciplinary - good for nearly all subjects. Scholarly and trade journals, popular magazines, newspapers, conference proceedings, book reviews, and more.
- Arts & Humanities Citation Index (via Web of Science) This link opens in a new windowIndexing and abstracts of millions of peer-reviewed articles in the arts and humanities disciplines. Also includes book chapters, conference papers and other formats. Cited and citing reference searching.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowScholarly journal archive for the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences; current issues (usually the last 2-5 years) are not digitized by JSTOR and may be obtained elsewhere.
Databases (literature)
- MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Index to books, essays, and journal articles on modern languages, literatures, fiction, folklore and linguistics. Topics include literary theory, criticism, folk literature and belief systems, linguistics, semantics, translation, dramatic arts, and history of printing and publishing. Covers literature worldwide and includes materials in all genres and in foreign languages. Dates of Coverage: 1926 to date
- Gale Literature This link opens in a new windowFull-text database that includes author biographies and work overviews, literary criticism, and indexed books, essays, and articles on world literature, and well as full-text of poems, short stories, novels, essays, speeches and plays.
- Literary Reference Source This link opens in a new window
Information on thousands of authors and works, including: plot summaries, synopses and work overviews; literary criticism; author biographies, interviews and images; and book reviews.
Databases (education)
- ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) This link opens in a new windowThe world's largest source of education information, with indexing and detailed descriptions of over 1.4 million journal articles, books, documents, research reports, surveys, curriculum and teaching guides, instructional materials, position papers, program overviews, conference papers, and other resource materials. All areas of education research and practice are included. Many items include full text. Maintained by the U.S. Dept. of Education. Dates of Coverage: 1966 to date
- Education Full Text This link opens in a new window
Indexes articles from education journals and books. Topics include teaching methods, multicultural/ethnic education, alternative and comparative education, testing, policy issues, teacher evaluation, school administration, higher education, and more. Selective access to full-text articles from about 350 journals. Dates of coverage: 1983 to date
- Education Research Complete This link opens in a new window
Indexes journal articles, books, and conference papers covering all levels of education from early childhood to higher education, and all areas including curriculum, administration, policy, funding, testing, and related social issues. Indexes over 1,500 journals, with full text for more than 750 journals.