You’ve been assigned to find three scholarly articles on a research topic (yours or one your professor picked). So… what’s next?

Good news: the library gives you access to thousands of peer-reviewed, academic journal articles—perfect for your paper!

But here’s the catch: just because an article looks academic doesn’t mean it really is. There are lots of publication types, and they aren’t all the same.

• Popular sources include magazines, newspapers, and general websites. They’re great for current events or general info, but not usually for academic research.
• Scholarly (or academic) sources are written by experts—professors, graduate students, or researchers—for other scholars. These are the peer-reviewed journal articles you want.

What does peer-reviewed mean?
It means experts in the field carefully evaluated the article before it was published. They check the quality, accuracy, and originality of the research to make sure it meets high academic standards.

So when you’re searching the library databases, look for articles from peer-reviewed journals to find trustworthy, scholarly sources for your paper.

See below for a tutorial on how to look for peer-reviewed articles!