Answer the following questions to determine the article type.
1. What are the author credentials? Who is the publisher?
2. Who is the intended audience for the article?
3. Why was the article written? To entertain, inform, share the results of a research study, other?
4. What is the language like? Is it formal? Is it high level and includes jargon? Is it written at level that is easy to understand?
5. Is the cover glossy and visually appealing? Are there any pictures included in the article? Are there graphs and/or tables?
6. Does the publication contain any ads?
Most scholarly journals are peer reviewed. The peer review process subjects the article to a critical examination by experts in the field being discussed. This increases reliability and prevents misinformation from spreading.
The following short video, from North Carolina State University Libraries, explains peer review.
Generally, scholarly, or academic, journal articles share original ideas and research. They are written by experts and add to the understanding of a particular field of study.
Examples of scholarly journal articles from the nursing field, accessible through the library's Nursing, Medicine and Health databases include
How do I know if I have a primary research article? Look for the following sections:
Publication information Journal details/Date/Article title/Authors/**Abstract (Summary of article sections)
Introduction (Study objective & Background information)
Methods (Study design)
Results (Data analysis & Tables/graphs)
**Discussion (Summary of findings, study limitations, conclusions and suggestions for further research)
References
**Sections of particular note for students researchers.
All guides are available under the CC-BY-NC-SA license.
