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Library Research Skills An Introduction. Part Two: Scholarly Information. A Drexel University Libraries Tutorial. Designed by: Anita Chiodo Emily Missner Devaney Ann Keith Kennedy Alison Lewis. Assignment: You will need to include 3 scholarly articles in your term paper.
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Library Research SkillsAn Introduction Part Two: Scholarly Information A Drexel University Libraries Tutorial Designed by:Anita ChiodoEmily Missner DevaneyAnn Keith KennedyAlison Lewis
Assignment: You will need to include 3 scholarly articles in your term paper. Scholarly articles? What are those?
So, what’s the difference between scholarly publications and things like Newsweek or The Economist?
1 Articles in scholarly journals are are written by experts. This means that scholarly articles are written by people who have a proven expertise in their field. Often, the authors are professors or advanced graduate students. Scholarly journals are sometimes called “peer reviewed journals.” This is because they are reviewed by other experts in their fields (as opposed to editors). This is a very important part of making scholarly journals scholarly. Articles in popular magazines are written by journalists The journalists don’t necessarily have a strong background in their subjects. They are merely reporting on what has happened.
2 Scholarly publications are written for experts. So, scholarly articles assume that their readers have a strong background in the subject. They will use jargon from the subject field. As college students, you should be able to read the articles. They’re written for you, as well as your professors and other experts. Popular magazines are written for the general public. When you read popular magazines, they will be written on a lower level. (Even the Wall Street Journal, which is a pretty hard-hitting newspaper is written at an 8th grade level.) Popular magazine publishers assume their readers are not experts on the subject.
3 Popular articles are based on secondary research. Journalists just report on what others are doing. They do not perform their own research and then report on their own findings. Scholarly articles are based on primary research. In scholarly articles, experts give the results and analysis of their own research. Sometimes a scholarly article will consist of analysis of another’s research. However, it’s still original analysis, and therefore, original thought.
4 Popular publications are published very quickly. Newspapers are published every day and other popular magazines are generally published weekly or monthly. Journalists can write these articles extremely quickly and editors can have them published right away. Scholarly journals are published very slowly. It takes years to write, review, and publish scholarly articles. Sometimes scholars take years to write them. The authors submit their articles to a panel of experts who review them for publication. It can take just as long to evaluate and publish them. This means, if you are trying to research a current event, you probably won’t find scholarly articles on your topic. It may take a year or two before there is scholarly information available.
5 Popular magazines rarely have footnotes or references. Remember, these articles are written for the general public, just so they can become better educated on a certain topic. Scholarly articles always have footnotes, references, and empirical evidence. Since these articles are written for experts, the readers will often want to know where the article’s information is coming from. They will regularly read the articles referenced in the scholarly publications. In some fields, how often a particular article is referenced by other experts is a way to tell how important an article is to its field.
Scholarly information is sometimes called “Peer-Reviewed” or “Refereed.” This kind of information is extremely important to professors and other scholars. Scholarly information is part of the on-going dialog among experts and scholars. Not only is it written by scholars, but it’s also reviewed and edited by scholars.
Notice anything about the article names from The Journal of General Psychology, a scholarly journal? Titles are sometimes really long. They can be dry and descriptive. Some are actually interesting.
OK, OK! I get the differences between scholarly and popular publications. But what’s the big deal? Why do I have to use them in college-level writing?
This Car BEST DEAL EVER! Well, in real life, if you were buying a used car, whose advice would you believe? “I’ve worked on a lot of Dodge Darts and they all seem to have transmission problems.” Dodge sucks! Uncle Billy This Dart is the sweetest deal on the lot! Mike the Mechanic Crazy TV Lenny
That’s easy! I’d choose the mechanic because he’s the expert! The other guys just have opinions, but the mechanic has actual knowledge of the cars.
Journal of Genetics Research DATELINE NBC CloneConspiracy.com Using scholarly information is the same concept: for your term paper on Human Cloning, whose information would you use? The results of my study indicate… What’ll they think of next! Back to you, Matt. Well, obviously, I’d use the article from the Journal of Genetics Research. The scientist is actually reporting the findings of her own study. It’s the most reliable information! They’re using DNA from toenail clippings to create an army of clones!
I understand! It’s important to use scholarly articles because scholarly information is the most accurate. In order to write the best paper I can, I need to incorporate experts’ studies and research into my own paper. A+
Library Research SkillsAn Introduction A Drexel University Libraries Tutorial This concludes Part Two: Scholarly Information Visit Part Three to learn about Database Searching!
