What is a scholarly source?

Scholarly sources (also referred to every bit academic, peer-reviewed, or refereed sources) are written by experts in a particular field and serve to keep others interested in that field up to date on the near recent research, findings, and news. These resource will provide the most substantial information for your research and papers.

What is peer-review?

When a source has been peer-reviewed, information technology has undergone the review and scrutiny of a review lath of colleagues in the author's field. They evaluate this source as part of the body of research for a particular subject field and make recommendations regarding its publication in a journal, revisions prior to publication, or, in some cases, turn down its publication.

Why use scholarly sources?

Scholarly sources' authorisation and credibility meliorate the quality of your ain paper or research projection.

How can I tell if a source is scholarly?

The following characteristics can assist yous differentiate scholarly sources from those that are not. Be certain to look at the criteria in each category when making your determination, rather than basing your decision on only 1 piece of information.

Authors

  • Are writer names provided?
  • Are the authors' credentials provided?
  • Are the credentials relevant to the information provided?

Publishers

  • Who is the publisher of the information?
  • Is the publisher an academic institution, scholarly, or professional organization?
  • Is their purpose for publishing this data axiomatic?

Audience

  • Who is the intended audition of this source?
  • Is the linguistic communication geared toward those with cognition of a specific discipline rather than the full general public?

Content

  • Why is the information being provided?
  • Are sources cited?
  • Are there charts, graphs, tables, and bibliographies included?
  • Are research claims documented?
  • Are conclusions based on evidence provided?
  • How long is the source?

Currency/Timeliness

  • Is the date of publication evident?

Additional Tips for Specific Scholarly Source Types

Each resource blazon below will likewise have unique criteria that can exist applied to it to determine if it is scholarly.

Books

  • Publishers
    • Books published by a University Press are likely to be scholarly.
    • Professional organizations and the U.S. Government Printing Office can also be indicators that a book is scholarly.
  • Book Reviews
    • Book reviews can provide clues as to if a source is scholarly and highlight the intended audience. See our Find Reviews guide to locate reviews on titles of involvement.

Manufactures

  • Are the author's professional affiliations provided?
  • Who is the publisher?
  • How oft is the periodical published?
  • How many and what kinds of advertisements are present? For case, is the advertizing clearly geared towards readers in a specific subject field or occupation?
  • For more information about different periodical types, see our Selecting Sources guide.

Web Pages

  • What is the domain of the page (for example: .gov, .edu, etc.)?
  • Who is publishing or sponsoring the folio?
  • Is contact information for the writer/publisher provided?
  • How recently was the page updated?
  • Is the information biased? Scholarly materials published online should not have any evidence of bias.

Is My Source Scholarly?: INFOGRAPHIC

Use the flowchart beneath to determine if your source is scholarly.

Is My Source Scholarly? (Attainable View)

Pace i: Source

The commodity is most likely scholarly if:

  • You lot institute the article in a library database or Google Scholar
  • The journal the article appears in is peer-reviewed

Move to Footstep 2: Authors

Step 2: Authors

The source is nearly likely scholarly if:

  • The authors' credentials are provided
  • The authors are affiliated with a university or other research institute

Move to Step iii: Content

Step 3: Content

The article is most likely scholarly if:

  • The source is longer than 10 pages
  • Has a works cited or bibliography
  • It does non attempt to persuade or bias the reader
  • Information technology attempts to persuade or bias the reader, but treats the topic objectively, the information is well-supported, and it includes a works cited or bibliography

If the commodity meets the criteria in Steps 1-3 it is most likely scholarly.