InfoGuides: COMM 6380: Introduction to Graduate Studies: Is It Scholarly?

Scholarly Articles

You should only use scholarly articles for research assignments.

Scholarly articles are found in journals, not magazines. They are written by experts for experts.

But not everything in a journal is scholarly, such as:

letters to the editor
editorials
book reviews

See more information about recognizing scholarly articles in Types of Periodicals.

Databases - Scholarly Articles Only

Some databases only contain or index journal articles. You will not have to verify that articles are scholarly in databases such as:

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
** Expanded access continues as we work to implement a new contract for JSTOR's new all-access model, which will provide access to all archival journals and primary source content. **

Back volumes for 2,890 journals from the very first issue but usually excluding the most current 2-5 years, though almost 100 with coverage through the most recent issue. General subject areas include art & architecture, Asian studies, botany, ecology, economics, education, finance, history, language & literature, mathematics, music, philosophy, political science, population studies, sociology and statistics.
Format: Majority full-text; some additional full-text via link resolver, Coverage: Dates vary with beginning date of journal., Truncation and Wildcard: + and ----, Search Tips: Boolean commands are supported. Use quotation marks to search keywords as a phrase.
Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
Full-text of more than 175 journals, focusing primarily on humanities and language. Some coverage for the performing arts, social sciences, and education. Almost all publications are scholarly, peer-reviewed journals. 25 journals continue the JSTOR coverage of the publication.
Format: Full-text, Coverage: Varies, begins as early as 1995, Truncation and Wildcard: * and None, Search Tips: Use quotations for phrase searching. Supports Boolean AND, OR and NOT. Group complex search strings with parentheses. Browsable help section and journals list. Use advanced search to specify field types for search string. E-mailed articles are sent as a URL link to the individual article.
Sage Journals Online This link opens in a new window
Full-text from 860+ scholarly journals, with excellent coverage for criminology, psychology, sociology, health sciences and the humanities. Numerous journals also cover education, general and international business, and management.
Format: Full-text, Coverage: 1999-present, Truncation and Wildcard: * and *, Search Tips: Search results may include material earlier than our subscription. DO NOT pay for articles: use our Interlibrary Loan
SpringerLink This link opens in a new window
Primarily scientific journals, with particular emphasis on mathematics, physics and engineering. Publisher is European, so some journals are not in English. Contains about 1,200 peer-reviewed journals.
Format: Full-text, Coverage: Varies, mid 1990s - present., Truncation and Wildcard: No and No, Search Tips: Default choice in advanced search is citation, so switch to articles by text tab to keyword search. Dropdown menu allows searching by All Words, AExact Phrase or Boolean Search. Search is by Author, Title, Abstract (including title), or Full-text (including title and abstract). Select Recency or Relevancy to sort results. To search by publication dates, or specific publication names, click the button labeled Show Advanced Options. Also browseable by publication, by publisher, or by online library (broad subjects such as chemical sciences, computer science, economics, etc.)
Taylor & Francis Online This link opens in a new window
Multi-disciplinary full-text database with an international perspective. Numerous specialized journals especially in education, social and behavioral sciences, communication, and business, but also otherwise across the arts and humanities, physical and life sciences, health sciences, and engineering, More than 1400 journals are available.
Format: Full-text, Coverage: Varies by title, many are 1997 to present, Truncation and Wildcard: Select 'stemming' and n/a, Search Tips: Be sure to check 'Only content I have full access to' to limit to items immediately available in full-text.
Wiley Online Library This link opens in a new window
For the sciences, business, and education. Includes journals in the areas of business, chemistry, computer science, earth science, education, engineering, law, life and medical sciences, mathematics and statistics, physics, and psychology.
Format: Full-text, Coverage: Varies--mostly mid-1990s to present., Truncation and Wildcard: * and None, Search Tips: For list of all journals, go to 'Publications ' and select initial letter of title. 'Browse by Subject' provides a list of publications by area of research, but does not have a search function. Question mark icon on every page is help feature. The open lock icon is on items available in full-text.

Scholarly Articles: Using Results List - Discover

If you search for articles using Discover, check the box for Scholarly Articles. It will automatically search for scholarly, peer-reviewed journals.

The search results will show the facet Peer-reviewed Journals is being used to filter the search results.

Using Ulrich's - Search the Database Yourself

Ulrichsweb Global Serials Directory This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive international list of journals, magazines, newspapers, and online full-text electronic references. For each title indicates subject area, publisher, publication schedule, where indexed/abstracted, if peer reviewed and more. Search by title, ISSN, publisher, subject, keyword, dates, and more.
Format: Finding aid, Coverage: 1930s - present, Truncation and Wildcard: * and $, Search Tips: Use the Advanced Search link to add limits include Current, Ceased, Forthcoming, Online, Refereed, Abstracted/Indexed, Website/URL, Journal Citation Reports, ScienceDirect, Ingenta Select, Serial Solutions, Open Access, and Type (such as Academic/Scholarly, Consumer, Newspaper, etc.).

You may directly search the title of a "serial" publication in Ulrichsweb to be 100% certain that it is a scholarly journal.

Read the Basic Description for information on Serial Type/Content Type. It is a scholarly journal if it states:

Serial type: Journal
Content type: Academic Scholarly

Peer-reviewed journals are considered the most authoritative of scholarly journals. The articles are reviewed by experts specializing in the same scholarly area as the author. A publication is "peer reviewed" if it states:

Refereed: Yes

A trade journal may be reputable, but it is NOT a scholarly journal. Even if the word "journal" is in the name of a publication, it is NOT necessarily a scholarly journal.

A trade newspaper may be reputable, but it is not a scholarly journal.