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What are scholarly sources and how do I identify them?

Scholarly sources are peer-reviewed, academic articles. Learn about the peer-review process and why these articles are usually considered credible sources.

Peer reviewed or scholarly articles follow a prescribed format depending on the academic discipline. Despite disciplinary differences, there are several standard sections and information that are included in most scholarly research articles. This video will dissect a scholarly article and describe the most common sections.

What's the difference between scholarly and popular sources? Here are a few ways to distinguish these sources.

Scholarly and Popular Materials Guide

Finding Articles

Now that you have a better sense of what scholarly articles are, you can start researching. Find scholarly articles using the Libraries' website or Google Scholar.

• For more in-depth research projects in a particular discipline, Getting to Article Databases may provide the best results.
• You can also try Searching in Google Scholar which provides other avenues to expand your search.
• Filters are a helpful way to sort through search results, but be on the lookout for sources the filters don’t catch.
• For searching tips and tricks, try phrase searching.
• Request articles not available online through Tripsaver.