COMD 4450 (Online): Scholarly Articles explained

What are they?

Scholarly articles are papers that describe a research study.

Why are scholarly articles useful?

They report original research projects have been reviewed by other experts before they are accepted for publication, so you can be reasonably assured that they contain valid information.

How do you identify scholarly or peer-reviewed articles?

• They are usually fairly lengthy – most likely at least seven - ten pages
• The authors and their credentials should be identified, at least the company or university where the author is employed
• There is usually a list of References or Works Cited at the end of the paper, listing the sources that the authors used in their research.

How do you find them?

Some of the library’s databases contain scholarly articles, either exclusively or in combination with other types of articles.
Google Scholar is another option for searching for scholarly articles.