ENVS 117: Environmental Science (Dugger): Scholarly vs. Popular

A scholarly or peer-reviewed article has been written by an expert in the subject (ex., a professor or other researcher), and has been reviewed and approved by a group of other experts (their peers). 

You can see an interactive diagram of a scholarly article, designed by the NC State Libraries, here.

Some tips for identifying scholarly articles:

• Most scholarly articles are published in academic journals or edited collections.  Articles from magazines, trade journals, or newspapers are not scholarly. 
   
• Scholarly articles will always include citations and a bibliography. Other articles generally include few or no citations, and will include only a brief bibliography or notes section if any at all. 
   
• Not all resources with citations are scholarly (for example, Wikipedia is not). 
   
• If you're not sure about a source, check for information like: the author's name/credentials; the publication it appears in or the publisher;  or the intended audience. 
   
• Book reviews and editorials are never scholarly, even when published in scholarly journals.