Evaluating Scholarly Articles
- Patterns in Scholarly WritingThis hand out will help you to recognize the patterns in a scholarly articles, making them easier to read and navigate.
- Evaluating InformationOnce you’ve found sources for research project, the next step is to evaluate whether or not they meet your needs for your topic. While your sources may broadly or loosely relate to your topic, you really want sources that relate more directly – either supporting or refuting your points. There are multiple ways to evaluate sources, but one that we recommend is the RADAR method.
- Guided Note-TakingUse this worksheet to help you keep the information gathered from your chosen scholarly articles organized.
Librarian
Scholarly Articles and Dissertations
Just like with books, there are several ways to find and access scholarly articles and dissertations. However, your best place to start is in Summon.
- Summon
Search the BGSU library catalog alongside the vast majority of our journal content at one time using Summon. Find and link to full text articles in scholarly journals and newspapers, ebooks, and images.
Scholarly vs Popular
When conducting your research, it is important for you to distinguish between journal articles and magazine articles. Databases are used to find and identify articles from peer-reviewed journals and other types of documents.
Journal articles are usually referred to as "scholarly," while magazine articles are commonly considered "popular."
Consider these points when differentiating between journals and magazines:
| Criteria | Scholarly Journal | Popular Magazine/Blog/Online Publication |
| Audience | Academics and/or Researchers, Professionals | General Public |
| Authors | Experts and/or Specialists | Journalists and/or Freelance Writers |
| Editorial Review/Peer Review | Journal Editorial Board and peer reviewers | Professional Editors |
| Reference/Works Cited | Yes | Not always required or provided |
Other Great Database Options
Although Summon is a great place to start, there are other database options - especially for history specific research.
- America: History & Life (EBSCO)Index to scholarly journal articles on the history and culture of the United States and Canada.
- Academic Search CompleteA multi-disciplinary full-text database that includes scholarly journal articles on all subjects as well as magazines, books and book chapters, reports, conference proceedings, and more. Academic Search Complete is an excellent research tool for almost any topic. (Note that full text is available 1975-present, although indexing is available 1887-present)
- Historical Abstracts (EBSCO)
Index to scholarly journal articles from international historical journals, covering the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present.
- JSTOR
Over a thousand full-text scholarly journals and books covering all subjects in the humanities, sciences and social sciences. History, economics, art, literature, and mathematics are particularly strong. All journal titles are archived back to the first issue, many dating from the early 1800s. JSTOR now also hosts the complete ArtSTOR collection.
- Project MUSE - Standard Collection
An interdisciplinary collection of hundreds of high quality, peer-reviewed, scholarly journals in the humanities, arts, and social sciences. All titles in the Standard Collection are full text.