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Scholarly Articles

This guide describes what scholarly articles are and provides advice on finding, reading, and evaluating them.

Scholarly, Popular, and Professional Sources

Scholarly, or Academic, articles are typically written by researchers or experts in a specific field of study (i.e. Sociology, Psychology, Biology, Epidemiology, etc.) and often present original research to their peers. Consider the purpose, authors, and audience as shown in the table below:

  Scholarly Journals Popular Journals (i.e. magazines, newspapers) Trade/Professional Publications
Purpose Informs and reports on original research done by scholars and experts in the field. Entertains and informs a general audience without providing in-depth analysis. Reports on industry trends and new products or techniques useful to people in a trade or business.
Authors Articles are written by subject specialists and experts in the field. Articles are written by journalists, freelance writers, or an editorial staff. Articles are usually written by specialists in a certain field or industry.
Audience Intended for a limited audience - researchers, scholars, and experts. Intended for a broad segment of the population, appealing to non-specialists. Intended for practitioners in a particular profession, business, or industry.
Examples

Lane, K., Williams, Y., Hunt, A. N., & Paulk, A. (2020). The Framing of Race: Trayvon Martin and the Black Lives Matter Movement. Journal of Black Studies, 51(8), 790–812. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934720946802

Rapanyane, M. B., & Motswaledi, T. R. (2022). The Role of Media Coverage in the Black Lives Matter Movement in the United States of AmericaJournal of African Films and Diaspora Studies, 5(3), 59-59–77. https://doi.org/10.31920/2516-2713/2022/5n2a4

Smith, J. (2020). The power of Black Lives Matter. Rolling Stone, 1341, 26–35.

 

Amelar, S. (2020). Firms face racism. Architectural Record, 9, 84–86.

Lindsay, J. (2020, Nov 23). What makes an effective diversity strategy? IT Pro. 

License information

This module is licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 4.0