Find Scholarly Articles

Scholarly articles (also known as peer-reviewed or academic articles) are written by professionals and are reviewed by a group of peers before being accepted for publication. Scholarly articles are excellent sources of information but can be difficult to identify. This guide will better define scholarly articles and how certain databases can help you find them.

Scholarly Journal Articles vs. Popular Magazine Articles

Listed below are some characteristics you can look for in an article that will help you determine if it is in a scholarly journal or a popular magazine.

Scholarly Journal Articles written by experts in the field signed by the author include author's credentials and affiliation reviewed by other experts in the field begin with an abstract or summary of article contain citations to the author's research contain specialized language are usually lengthy usually do not contain advertisements

Popular Magazine Articles may or may not be signed by the author may be written by a non-expert or journalist are only reviewed by the editor of magazine may not include author's credentials or affiliation do not begin with abstract or summary may or may not include bibliographies are written in non-technical language are relatively short are surrounded with advertisements

Still not sure if the journal article is scholarly?
Check to see if the journal is scholarly by searching for the journal in MLA Directory of Periodicals (requires Library VPN if off campus). If you can't find the journal in there, search Ulrichs International Periodicals Directory (located at the Reference Desk) or Ask Us.

Searching in Databases

Many databases allow you to limit your search for only scholarly articles. Listed below are a few of the main databases that allow you to limit your search.

EBSCO Databases

The Library has many EBSCO databases such as Academic Search Premier, Business Search Premier, CINAHL and more. With EBSCO databases, you can limit your search to just scholarly journals by checkmarking the Scholarly (Peer Review) Journals box. See example below.

Gale/InfoTrac Databases

Just like EBSCO, the Library has many Gale or InfoTrac databases such as Academic OneFile, Expanded Academic ASAP and so much more. With Gale/InfoTrac databases you can limit your search to just scholarly journals by checkmarking the Peer-Reviewed Publications box. See example below.

Other Databases

Most databases allow you to limit your search to just scholarly articles, but not all the databases are the same. Some databases refer scholarly journals as "peer reviewed" or "academic" journals.

If you have questions about limiting your search to just scholarly journals, contact the Reference Desk at 719-255-3295 or refdesk@uccs.edu.