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.
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 for finding scholarly articles
- Black Studies Center This link opens in a new window
Covers the Black experience from ancient Africa to the modern day from perspectives in history, literature, political science, sociology, philosophy, music, visual arts, and religion. Includes index to Black Literature (1827-1940), Black Studies Periodical Database, and the full text backfile (1910-2010) of the influential black newspaper The Chicago Defender.
- Humanities International Complete This link opens in a new window
Index to journals, books and reference sources in all humanities disciplines, as well as selected original creative works including poems, fiction, photographs, and illustrations, with some content available full-text.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- Oxford African American Studies Center This link opens in a new windowAfrican American and African history and culture including biographies, topical entries, primary source documents with commentary, images, maps, charts, tables, and more.
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I This link opens in a new window
Citations and abstracts for dissertations and theses on all subjects from around the world. Previews and full text available for some titles.
Websites
- Science Fiction & Fantasty DatabaseThe Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Database is a freely available online resource designed to help students and researchers locate secondary sources for the study of the science fiction and fantasy and associated genres. These include: historical material; books; articles; news reports; interviews; film reviews; commentary; and fan writing.
- A Bibliography of Caribbean Science Fiction and FantasyScience fiction and fantasy written by authors from the Caribbean. Bibliography uses MLA citation.