Skip to Main Content

SOCI 133: Introduction to Sociology: Rules for the Game of Life: Scholarly Article Databases

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. 

Types of Scholarly Articles

Types of Scholarly Articles

Original

An article that reports on original research such as an experiment, or analysis of data, a creative work, phenomena, or historical event.

Review

An article summarizing the results of many original articles investigating similar topics. May use analytic techniques such as meta-analysis to statistically compare data from multiple studies.

Tip #1 - Many scholarly journals, especially in the Humanities, also publish book reviews of scholarly books. These are not the same as review articles!

Theory

An article intended to contribute to the theoretical foundations of a field, providing explanations for phenomena and frameworks that can be used to guide the analysis of evidence.

Parts of a Scholarly Article

Abstract

 Brief summary of the article.
Introduction States the topic, purpose, and argument of the article.
Methods Mentions steps taken to support argument of the article.
Results/Findings Shares results of the research.
Discussion Analyzes and talks about the findings of the research.
Conclusion Synthesizes the article's findings and argument.
References List of cited sources.

 

Reading Scholarly Articles

How To Read A Scholarly Article

Read The Abstract
The abstract will give you a general understanding of the article. Also, pay attention to the authors and their titles.

Read The Conclusion

The conclusion will summarize the author's findings including ways of improving the research.

Read The Introduction

The introduction will set up the layout of the article and the main argument of the article.

Tip #1: Highlight important ideas.

Read The First And Last Sentence Of Each Paragraph

The first and last sentence of each paragraph will give you a brief understanding of the discussion. 

Tip #2: Take notes on the margins.

Read The Rest Of The Article

After getting a general idea of the article, read the entire article to get a full picture of the author's argument.

Tip #3: Repeat steps one and two.

Databases