May also be known as Scholarly article, Peer reviewed article, or Refereed article, or Journal article
- What’s the title of the publication? __________________________________________________
(Hint: different from the article title. Often Journal, Review, or Quarterly will be part of the journal title)
- Are the Authors experts (PhDs, MDs, etc)? ___________________
- Does the article follow a format like this?
- Abstract / Summary
Introduction or Literature Review
Methods: Did they conduct an experiment? What did they do?
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
- Is there a References section or footnotes/endnotes?
- Uh oh: does the article heading say “Perspectives,” “Opinion,” “Editorial,” or indicate anything other than a research article?
- How long is the article? (Hint: Usually between 5-30 pages)
- Are there charts, graphs, and tables of numbers?
- Was the article reviewed by other scholars/experts to see if the research is of high quality? (Hint: Do a Google search. Look for categories like, “Instructions for Authors” or “About the Journal” on publisher’s webpage, which often mention "peer review" or "refereed" articles)
- What type of study is this? Case study, research experiment, review article, etc?
If you answer "yes" to most of these questions, chances are good that you've found a scholarly article! Still not sure? Ask a CU Librarian!
