Scholars share their research and scholarship through scholarly publications channels. Typically fields of study have specialized journals or publishers. Academic articles may be review articles, original research papers, position papers, case studies among others.
Scholarly articles are typically written for a very specialized audience of fellow scholars and practitioners. Authors may assume that the reader has prior knowledge about the field. Don't be surprised if you find jargon or unfamiliar language! Try to get an overview of what the author's main points, claims, and questions may be. Many scholarly articles have similar structures or headings that may help you find your way. Look for sections like the abstract, introduction, section headings, and conclusion. They may offer cues that help you to infer the article's purpose and main argument.
Click on the gold plus boxes to learn more about the parts of a scholarly article.