COMM 110: Public Speaking

Scholarly vs. Non-Scholarly

Make sure you understand the type of source material needed for your research paper.  For example, many professors request that your information come from scholarly, peer-reviewed journals. 

But what is a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal article?

A scholarly, peer-reviewed article appears in a publication, such as a journal, which highlights narrow topics and/or research in a specific area of study. The articles are considered peer-reviewed because they have gone through a review by other experts in the same field (peers).

What is a non-scholarly article?

Non-scholarly articles may appear in a magazine or newspaper and are usually written by journalists, not experts on the topic, and in many cases you will not find any citations or other source information.

• On the OneSearch results screen, you can click the box next to Peer-Reviewed Journals on the left side of your search screen and then click Apply Filters to limit your search to peer-reviewed journal articles only: