Scholarly articles vary in quality and often report on new advances in research rather than the settled consensus in a field, so it is important to read them critically before accepting their conclusions at face value. As you develop your own knowledge of your discipline and its research methods (especially after you've had a research methods class!), you should begin to build a habit of asking the following questions of most articles you encounter:
If you answer "no" or "yes, but" to either of those questions, it does not always mean you should not cite that article. Instead, build the following habits when you find scholarly sources whose methods you question:
In addition to evaluating the argument made in the article, it is also important to situate that argument in the context of a broader scholarly conversation, using a process known as "lateral reading."