F.A.Q.

Guidelines for identifying scholarly articles.  See PDF file below, "Scholarly article example", for an example of what is typical for a scholarly article.

1. When searching library research databases, scholarly articles may be labeled "Academic", "Scholarly", or "Peer-Reviewed".

2. The authors' names are included along with their institution affiliations and credentials.

Example: Author Name, MD, MPH. University of Michigan.

3. The authors are professionals in their field of study.  The article is written for other professionals, not the general public.

4. Scholarly articles are written in academic journals (see link below to the video "Four Types of Periodicals")

5. Scholarly articles will often use technical or highly specialized language, including in the title of the article.

6. Scholarly articles will often have an Abstract at the beginning of the article.

7. Scholarly articles will often be formatted to include a combination of the following: Aims, Objective, Purpose, Background, Design, Results, Methods, Conclusion, or Impact.

8. Scholarly articles will often include research results along with charts, graphs, figures, or tables.

9. Scholarly articles include a list of References at the end.

Helpful videos:

Identifying Scholarly Articles from the University of Wisconsin Madison

Four Types of Periodicals from Spring Arbor University Library

Contact a Librarian if you'd like additional help identifying scholarly articles.