Finding Scholarly Articles: Home

Some of the hallmarks of scholarly articles are below:

• An abstract or summary of the article is usually included
• The author’s professional qualifications are listed
• The article will explain the methodology used and the results of the research
• The article has a Works Cited or bibliography page
• The text in the article reflects the specialized terms and vocabulary of the academic field
• The article is published in a professional print or online journal

Most instructors at Cuesta will ask you to use scholarly articles for your research. So what is a scholarly article (also called academic articles), and how does it differ from “regular” articles that you read in newspapers or magazines?

A scholarly article is written by an expert in a profession or field. Scholarly articles are produced to add to the knowledge in the field or profession, and their results can usually be replicated. They include a methodology consistent with the field, and contain a bibliography of works cited, so that other scholars can retrace the scholar’s steps from research to conclusion.

Peer-Reviewed articles are a form of scholarly article. These articles go through a rigorous editorial process, being reviewed by experts before they are published. Not all scholarly articles are peer-reviewed, but most go through some form of oversight.

Using Library OneSearch to find scholarly articles.

• Enter your keyword or phrase.
• If you are using a keyword phrase, do phrase searching (“…”)
• On the left, you can limit your search with various options. You can only choose one option at a time, and then the database refreshes
• Choose Peer-Reviewed articles as your first option. You can also choose Full Text and date limits (i.e. last 5 years).
• Choose as many options as you need to get good results.

If you are not getting the results you want, try using different keywords. You can always ask a Cuesta librarian for assistance.

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