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WRI 102: Creativity and rhetoric: Find Articles

Is It Peer Reviewed (Scholarly)?

Already found an article and want to know if the journal is academic or scholarly?

Check here:

Ulrich's Periodical Directory

Look for the tiny referee shirt in the table next to the journal name or check under "content type"."

What is a Scholarly Journal?

You can identify a scholarly journal by the following features:

  • Purpose - to inform, report, or make original research available to other researchers.
  • Authors/Publishers - written by scholars or researchers in the field. Articles are peer reviewed by other experts in the field before being published by a professional organization.
  • Sources - include extensive documentation to previously published research (footnotes, reference lists, bibliographies, etc.)
  • Language - use terminology/jargon and the language of the discipline covered.
  • Format - have serious formats. May contain graphs and charts to illustrate concepts.
  • Examples - Annals of Microbiology, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Physiology, Physics Letters

    • And Then There Is...

    Allows you to search across many disciplines and sources
    including peer-reviewed journals, theses,  and books.
    Be sure to access Google Scholar from the
    to take advantage of direct links to available full text.

    What is a Scholarly Journal Article?

    Journal Articles

    Depending on your topic, the following databases should prove helpful:

    Strong for articles with a business/economics related focus.  Large full text collection including the Wall Street Journal.

    Access World News

    Newspaper articles and newswire full-text from the U.S. and abroad.  

    Large full text collection.  Covers a variety of topics across many disciplines.  You can limit your results to scholarly articles.

    OmniFile Full-Text
    Another multidisciplinary database, mostly full-text  Includes both peer reviewed journals and popular magazines.

    PsycInfo

    Comprehensive international database for psychology.  

    Social Sciences Full Text (Wilson Web)

    Provides citations, abstracts, and selected full text to articles in over 350 leading English language periodicals in a broad array of the social sciences. Subject coverage includes anthropology, criminology, law, political science, psychology, sociology and women's studies.