How can I tell if an article is scholarly or peer-reviewed?
Scholarly, peer-reviewed articles are written by scholars, for an audience of scholars, and are reviewed by experts before they are published. These articles must adhere to specific formatting requirements and conventions; you can use these standards to spot scholarly articles. Some things to watch out for include:
- A bibliography at the end of the article (sometimes also called references) or footnotes containing citations.
- A formal structure that introduces the author’s or authors’ research question, details their research methodology, and concludes with their findings and any limitations of the research.
- Formal, technical, or academic language.
This scholarly articles video can help you learn more about identifying scholarly articles. This OneSearch video can help you find them using OneSearch!
If you’re not sure if the article you’re looking at is scholarly, contact a librarian at 801-863-8840 or chat with us via the library's homepage.
