Unsure what a scholarly journal article looks like? This Interactive tutorial identifies sections that should appear in a scholarly journal article.
Almost all of the library's databases will allow you to focus your search within academic, scholarly, trade or peer-reviewed journals.
Limiting to academic/scholarly, however, may also retrieve professional journals. Some professors consider these scholarly, others don't. Ask for clarification.
Look for:
Every scholarly research article will indicate what methods and tools were used to conduct the research, what the results were, and how the author interprets those results.
View some sample citations below to compare scholarly and non-scholarly journal articles. Still unsure? Check The Serials Directory for the definitive word on whether your source is scholarly or general.
Image source: Syker Fotograf. GNU GPL. Wikimedia Commons.
Be aware that not everything you encounter in scholarly journals will be a research article. Scholarly journals contain book reviews, commentary, editorials, and literature reviews.