The Library at NCSU has created a great video called "Peer Review in 3 Minutes."
Start by reading the article abstract. Does the author talk about their data and methodology?
Look at the article itself. Most will follow a particular structure:
Start by reading the abstract. Does the author talk about gathering literature and reviewing existing studies?
You can use a review article in your reference list to talk about the overall trends and findings on your topic.
Sometimes it is hard to tell whether you have a scholarly or a popular article when you are looking at an online full-text article. Here are some clues:
Journal - Scholarly |
Magazine - Popular |
|
Content |
Detailed report of original research or experiment. | Secondary report or discussion may include personal narrative, opinion, anecdotes. |
---|---|---|
Author |
Author's credentials are given, usually a scholar with subject expertise. | Author may or may not be named; often a professional writer; may or may not have subject expertise. |
Audience |
Scholars, researchers, students. | General public; the interested non-specialist. |
Language |
Specialized terminology or jargon of the field; requires prior knowledge. | Vocabulary in general usage; understandable to most readers. |
References/Bibliography |
Required. All quotes and facts can be verified. | Rare. Scanty, if any, information about sources. |
Examples |
Developmental Psychology, Journal of Abnormal Psychology. Almost anything with Journal in the title. Usually come with memberships in scholarly societies and are only available in libraries. |
Psychology Today, Discover, news magazines. Almost anything available in a store. |
These are guidlines, but as a general rule you will find popular articles in:
These databases have both scholarly and popular articles:
These databases are considered scholarly and don't cover popular articles: