Is My Article Scholarly?

Is my article scholarly?

Click the play button to watch a short video on identifying scholarly articles.

Is the article written by experts (scholars) in the field?
- Author's name is always included in scholarly articles.
Is the article written for experts (scholars) in the field?
- Articles written for the general public are NOT scholarly.
Does the article report the results of research or does it analyze or interpret other research studies?
- Often scholarly articles include a description of research methods.
Is the article long?
- Scholarly articles tend to be long (more than five pages in the humanities and more than two pages in the sciences).
Does the article have a bibliography?
- Scholarly articles always have a bibliography.
Does the article title contain technical language?
- Scholarly articles often use language that is technical and discipline specific.
  e.g. "Nonparametric Regression Techniques in Economics"
Does the title of the journal seem to be very specialized?
- Scholarly articles often come from journals focusing on specific topics.
  e.g. Journal of Applied Physics or Historical Methods
Does the journal have an editorial policy that includes peer review?
- Peer reviewed articles have been assessed by other experts in the field before publication.

Bibliography: A list of resources (books, journal articles, or other documents) about a specific subject. May fill a whole book or be at the end of a book or article.　 (Bates College, Ladd Library Glossary)
Humanities: Learning concerned with human culture, especially literature, history, art, music, and philosophy. (Oxford Dictionary of English)
peer review: The process in which a publication is submitted by the prospective publisher to experts in the field for critical evaluation prior to publication. (ODLIS)

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