How to Recognize a Scholarly Journal Article
Use the Structure of Academic Writing to your Advantage ...
... while reading:
- First, read the sections that supply a basic understanding of the article: the abstract, the introduction, and the conclusion.
- Look for section headings or boldface font. These are used to separate the article into 'chunks,' and to announce the focus of the following paragraph(s).
- Fill in the middle: if the article seems appropriate for your project, then read it beginning to end.
... when looking for additional articles:
- Use the list of cited references to gather more articles / books on the topic. These are the sources that the article's author used.
- Article databases automatically scan for your search terms in the article titles, the abstracts, and the database's assigned subject headings. Take note of the range of vocabulary used in the titles, abstracts, and subject headings of appropriate articles, and recycle those terms in your own searches.
(APA 7th Ed.) Citation for a Journal Article
- This citation tells us that the source is a journal article.
- Hint: Journals typically have volume and issue numbers.
- Users must distinguish the title of the article from the title of the journal, in which the article is published.
- Individual scholarly journals are devoted to a specific topic or discipline. Readers may wish to view additional articles from that journal.
- 'Scholarly conversations' may occur in peer-reviewed scholarly journals. Journals are published at regular intervals, hence the term periodical. The quicker publishing cycle allows for timely responses and updates to a topic.
- Raesch, M., Lee, M., & Cooper, F. R. (2015). From lonesome cowboys to geek masculinities: A study of documentary films on the financial crisis. Interactions: Studies in Communication & Culture, 6(3), 287–301. https://doi-org.ezproxysuf.flo.org/10.1386/iscArticle databases typically provide a "Cite Button," to capture the citation components. However, proper formatting and indention is not included.
Basic Anatomy of a Scholarly Article
Scholarly, peer-reviewed articles, across most disciplines, share similar characteristics:
- An abstract (summary) of the article, which appears on the opening page, and in the database record that identifes the article.
- A clearly marked
- introduction at the beginning,
- and a discussion / conclusion at the end.
- A list of references (works cited, 'bibliography'), that the author uses to inform his/her argument.
- Empirical research studies also will include clearly marked sections describing the study's methods and results, which are then followed by the discussion and conclusion.