Other Signs to Spot a Scholarly Book:

• Read the record for the author and publisher. Are the credentials academic (an university press, a professor as an author)?
• Are the language and subject matter of an academic nature?
• Are there In-text citations?
• Is there a thorough and exhaustive (long) reference list? 

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Here we can see the cover of the book, the title and the author. 

Within the first page of the book, you should expect to see information about the author. In the image below, you can see a small section that explains who the author is. 

The author bio establishes the author's expertise in her field. By reading this biography section on her, we can see that she has a PhD, and has researched, worked and written in her field since 1990.

This image below shows a part of the text from one of the pages. Notice the presence of in-text citations. All claims are thoroughly sourced and backed up. Note too the academic tone and language of the text.

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Finally, you should expect to see references - multiple pages of citations that give credit to the sources the author used during the research for the book. The image below is just that, showing that this larger work is thoroughly referenced. This is page 1 of 15 pages of references.

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Understanding the Peer-Review Process

In academic publishing, the goal of peer review is to assess the quality of articles submitted for publication in a scholarly journal. Before an article is deemed appropriate to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, it must undergo the following process

• The author of the article must submit it to the journal editor who forwards the article to experts in the field. Because the reviewers specialize in the same scholarly area as the author, they are considered the author’s peers (hence “peer review”).
• These impartial reviewers are charged with carefully evaluating the quality of the submitted manuscript.
• The peer reviewers check the manuscript for accuracy and assess the validity of the research methodology and procedures.
• If appropriate, they suggest revisions. If they find the article lacking in scholarly validity and rigor, they reject it.

Because a peer-reviewed journal will not publish articles that fail to meet the standards established for a given discipline, peer-reviewed articles that are accepted for publication exemplify the best research practices in a field.

Attribution: Much of the information in these boxes about the peer-review process was used with permission from the awesome librarians at the Lloyd Sealy Library at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Identifying Common Elements in a Journal Article

Look through the images and notes below to learn more about the various parts common to a scholarly article

The Citation information: Authors, Article title, Journal information and Abstract

• As shown in the image below, much of the citation information about the article appears on the first page. Here we see the title of journal, page numbers, and the publication date.
• Multiple authors are common in search and they usually include academic affiliations that are listed just near the authors' names, as shown in this image, or as a footnote at the bottom of the page. 
• Also on the first page, you can often see the abstract to the article, which is common.

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In-Text Citations

• As show in the image of the article text below, you can see that in-text citations are common. This article also shows the contact information for the main author. 

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The Methodology or Experiment

• Common to these articles is a section where their research process is explained.
• This method or experiment section lays out the process by which the researchers conducted their project. This section will provide all the details for replicating an experiment such as materials used, equations, etc.

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The Results and Discussion

• You should always expect to see a results and discussion section at the end of the article
• These sections can be presented separately or under one heading. Results give jus the facts of the experiment without any interpretation.

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Data - Tables and Charts

• Throughout the article you may see charts, tables, graphs or diagrams depicting the data collected through the study.

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The References

• One of the easier ways to tell a scholarly source are the list of citations you'll see. Academic literature always includes a reference list. Citations give credit to the source of information and show that research is based on a solid foundation. 

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Newspapers, Magazines, Trade Journals and General Websites are NOT scholarly articles

Book reviews and opinion editorials are NOT scholarly articles

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The image above shows a book review and outlines important aspects or parts that can help you evaluate the source

1. The title of the book being reviewed in this article is called "Tell This Silence: Asian American Women Writers and the Politics of Speech" and it is written by Patti Duncan. The name, ISBN, cost of the book, and other info to help you find the book is listed before the start of the article's text. 
2. The author is listed as Deborah M. Mix - she wrote the review (like an opinion piece) about the book "Tell This Silence: Asian American Women Writers and the Politics of Speech"
3. She got the review published in the scholarly journal called "Modern Fiction Studies"
4. Even though Deborah's article is published in a scholarly journal the article itself is not considered a scholarly journal article, since it is simply a review based on someone's opinion. It differs greatly from the research-centered articles that are also housed in the journal.

Below, you can click on the link to access the full article where you can see the original PDF of the article as it appeared in print inside the journal.

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Newspapers

These articles are good both for finding recent information on a topic (what has happened in the last week or month) as well as finding out how historical events were reported in the past (for example, how was the AIDS crisis first reported in the 1980s?)

Appearance: 

• Generally printed on newsprint in black ink.

Audience:

• Written for the general public.

Author/Authority:

• Articles written by staff writers and freelance journalists.

Citations:

• Will sometimes cite sources, a scholar, or a freelance writer.

Content:

• Includes current events and special features.

Frequency:

• Usually published daily or weekly.

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Popular Magazines

These articles are good for summarizing information on a topic for the general public.  They often provide a background, summarize research findings, and provide some analysis of a topic.

Appearance:

• Generally attractive and illustrated with color photographs.

Audience:

• Written for the general public.

Author/Authority:

• Articles written by staff or freelance writer.

Content:

• Includes current events and special features.

Frequency:

• Usually published weekly or monthly.

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Trade Journals

*Sometimes called Professional Journals or Industry Journals

These articles are good to keep people in a particular field of work or trade (veterinarians, police officers, hotel managers, teachers, librarians, advertisers...etc.) up-to-date on trends in their line of work.  Articles often summarize and analyze findings from scholarly research.

Appearance: 

• Generally attractive and are often illustrated with color photographs

Audience:

• Written for industry professionals.

Author/Authority:

• Articles written by staff writers, though the magazine may sometimes accept articles from industry professionals.

Citations:

• Occasionally list references at the end of the article or provide footnotes within the text.

Content:

• Includes current events and special features within a particular profession or industry.

Frequency:

• Usually published biweekly or monthly.      

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Scholarly journals

*Sometimes called Scholarly, Academic, Peer-reviewed or Refereed

These articles are good to find results of scientific or academic research.  They are written for scholars and provide in-depth analysis of a very specific area of your topic 

Appearance: 

• Generally have a sober, serious look. May contain graphs and charts, but few glossy pages or photographs. Use scholarly language with vocabulary specific to their profession or field. May often have headings in article such as "literature review" "methods" "results" and "discussion." 

Audience:

• Written for academics and professionals.

Author/Authority:

• Articles written by researchers or scholars in the field who report the results of original research.

Citations:

• Articles include footnotes and a list of citations at the end of the article.

Content:

• Includes scholarly research for a particular profession or industry.

Frequency:

• Usually published bimonthly or quarterly.

Images: All images in this tabbed box were taken by GRC librarians