HO 296-SS: Honors Thesis-Capstone Prep

What are Scholarly Articles?

Scholarly and peer-reviewed articles report on new research. They are published in subject-specific academic journals in order to make such information available to other scholars and academics. 

• Scholarly journals are written by academics, geared to a specific audience and usually published by organizations with an academic focus.
• Authors are typically experts or scholars in their field. The author's credentials and affiliations are usually listed.
• The language of scholarly journals is that of the discipline covered. It assumes that the reader has knowledge of the subject..
• Scholarly articles always cite information sources using footnotes, endnotes, and/or bibliographies.
• Scholarly articles are usually lengthy, and can include charts, graphs, and collected data.

A scholarly article may also be peer-reviewed; this type of article must be reviewed and approved for publication by a panel of experts in the field.

Why Do I Need to Use Scholarly Articles for my Assignment?

• Scholarly articles are used in academic research because they carry a high level of authority and credibility. Use of scholarly sources is an expected attribute of academic course work, and they contribute significantly to the overall quality of the work you do here at MU.
• Scholarly journal articles require authors to document and make verifiable the sources of the facts, ideas, and methods they used to arrive at their insights and conclusions.
• Scholarly articles strive to identify and discuss the merits of alternative explanations and viewpoints for the positions they are taking.
• Scholarly journal articles, unlike web-based or popular magazine articles, are designed and structured to provide the elements necessary to most thoroughly evaluate the validity and truth of an author's position.

As you know, anyone can say just about anything in articles posted on the web. While you might agree with the conclusions of a paper found on the web, you are often not given the chain of evidence you need to assess the truth of those conclusions. Likewise, articles published in popular magazines, while they provide information and opinions, are not required to document evidence that either supports or negates their conclusions.

In all disciplines, knowledge is built by responding to the ideas and discoveries of those who came before us. Scholarly journal articles strive to make it easier to assess the truth, as well as the strengths and weaknesses, of the claims made in an article by documenting sources.

Source: Eastern Michigan University Library

Source: Yavapai College Library

• All three types of periodicals may appear online or in print.
• If you are not sure whether your article is appropriate, ask your instructor.
•  Start from Advanced Search screen and use database filters to select your source type. 

There are several ways you can save your research work as you move through your project:

Create an account within a database (JSTOR, Academic Search Complete, Credo, etc.) and save articles to folders.

Send individual articles to yourself, print them, save to a thumb drive or upload to Google Drive using the database widgets provided. These will look slightly different depending on the database, and are typically found when you open up individual articles. You can also download a PDF if it's available. Here's what the widgets look like in the Ebsco databases: 

Create an account in Zotero or NoodleTools. Not only will you be able to save articles here, but you can keep lists of search terms, book titles and other resources types, and there are templates that help you create your paper and/or bibliography. There are tools to create documents for all major styles/formats (MLA, APA, Chicago Style, etc.).

Create an account within MLA Style Center or Academic Writer (APA Style). There are tutorials and templates to help you create your paper and/or bibliography using MLA/APA style. Use Chicago Style Online for Chicago Style format.