Some tips for identifying scholarly articles:
Whether searching on the web or browsing the library stacks, it's important to pay attention to the sources you are using and evaluate them critically. This, of course, is usually more crucial for web resources, but is good practice when doing research of any kind.
Questions to help you evaluate sources as your research:
Author
o Who is the author?
o How is the author qualified?
o Is the author an expert?
o Does the author have bias? (Remember that a bias may not be directly stated.)
o If no author is listed, why? Be wary if you cannot determine an author or group responsible for the content you are reading.
Host or Publisher
o Who hosts the site? OR Who publishes this resource?
o What is their purpose and audience?
o Does the host/publisher have bias? (Remember that a bias may not be directly stated.)
For Websites: Domain
o What is the domain extension?
This can help you determine how reputable a website is. For example, .gov is the domain for United States government sites and .edu is for US Educational institutuions. Note that not all .com sites are unreliable and not all .org sites are reputable -- .org simply means that the website is for a non-profit group.
Sources
o Does the resource provide its sources?
o Does it refer/link you to other credible sources?
o Is the information able to be cross-referenced?
Currency
o Is the site regularly updated? OR When was the resource published?
o Is there any information which seems out-of-date?
Sociology
Journal articles, and citations for books, conference proceedings, and other resources, in the field of sociology.
Academic and professional journal articles, dissertations, magazines, and news dealing with a variety of social science fields.
Government documents, reports, court cases, and other primary sources relating to the history of civil rights in the U.S., accompanied by journal articles and books.
COVID-19
Journal articles and primary sources reflecting U.S. responses to and experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as previous pandemics.
Economics & Politics
Journal articles, working papers, conference proceedings and other publications dealing with political science and international relations.
Environment / Ecology
Journal articles, reports and other publications across many subjects that address human impact on the natural environment.
News
Date(s): 1980-present
Text-only articles from the New York Times. **Blogs are not included.**
Date(s): 1984-present
Text-only articles from the Wall Street Journal. **Blogs and other website content are not included.**
National and international news sources, including major titles like the Boston Globe, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, and LA Times.