What is a scholarly article?

What is a scholarly article?

“A scholarly journal contains articles and letters
written by scholars to report results of research and
other scholarly activities.  For most academic papers,
scholarly articles are excellent and preferred sources
for supporting your arguments (retrieved September
16, 2011, from
http://www6.wittenberg.edu/lib/help/schol-pop.php).

Your professor might require you to find scholarly articles for an assignment, but how can you tell whether an article that you find is scholarly?  Most periodicals are scholarly (for people who study the subject) or popular (for anyone).  How can you tell the difference between a scholarly article and a popular one?  Use this chart to see whether an article is scholarly or popular.

	Scholarly	Popular
Where did you find it?	Scholarly articles are published in print and online journals with titles like The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and The New England Journal of Medicine.  Their covers are usually simple.  You probably will not see any celebrities on the covers.	Popular articles are printed in newspapers like The New York Times and magazines like Time or Women’s Health that you might see sold at newsstands and supermarket.  The covers or front pages attract people’s attention with bright colors and photographs.
Who wrote it?	The authors are usually experts in the fields that they are writing about.  They might be professors with advanced degrees.	The authors are usually journalists—people who write articles for a living.
Who edited or reviewed it?	The article is peer edited (also called peer reviewed, juried, or refereed)—people who are experts (often professors) read the articles and make suggestions for revision before approving the articles for publication.	The editors work for the magazine and know about publishing but not necessarily the subject of the article.
Who would understand the words used in the article?	The articles use jargon and words that most people do not know unless they have taken classes or work in the field covered by the journal.  People who have not studied the subject might need dictionaries to understand the articles.	The articles’ vocabulary is usually not very difficult.  Readers do not have to be experts in the subject.
Is there a bibliography?	Yes, authors of scholarly articles must cite their sources properly.	No, popular articles usually do not have bibliographies.
How did the authors get their information?	Authors of scholarly authors conduct original research or use other people’s research in new ways.	These authors usually are reporters, so they may get their information from conducting interviews or reading other people’s research.
How long is it?	Scholarly articles are usually at least several pages long and very detailed.	Popular articles tend be brief and to the point.
Does the article have different sections?	Scholarly articles often follow a structure.  For example, they might  includes section in this order:   (1) an abstract (a summary of the article), (2) a literature review (a listing of what various authors have and have not written about on the subject), (3) the methodology (a description of how the authors conducted their research), (4) the results (what their research shows), (5) the conclusion (what the authors think their article proves), and a (6) bibliography.	Popular articles can have separate sections but usually do not follow the same format as scholarly articles.  Many popular articles, especially in newspapers and newsmagazines, begin with the most important facts.

Remember that not every article that appears in a scholarly journal is a scholarly article.  Editorials and book reviews, for example, are not considered scholarly articles.  

If you have any questions, you may contact your librarian in person or online at agerber@ihe.edu. 

Many college libraries’ websites have pages that you can use for reviewing the differences between scholarly and popular articles.  Clicking on any of these should help:

http://www.library.arizona.edu/help/tutorials/scholarly/guide.html
Source:  University of Arizona
 

For an interactive lesson, click on Popular vs. Scholarly Articles - Tutorial.

http://lib.utsa.edu/Research/Subject/scholarlyguide.html
Source:  University of Texas at San Antonio

http://www6.wittenberg.edu/lib/help/schol-pop.php
Source:  Wittenberg University

http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/guides/spmaterials/
Source:  North Carolina State University
This page contrasts scholarly, popular, and trade periodicals.

http://library.duke.edu/services/instruction/libraryguide/scholarlyjournal.html
Source:  Duke University