LibGuides: Types of Sources: Identifying Scholarly Sources

blank

Image from Marcia J. Bates, Professor Emerita, Information Studies, UCLA

Scholarly Sources

Generally, a scholarly source is written by an expert in the given field and goes through the peer-reviewed process. Researchers use scholarly sources because they provide credible information. Most college-level papers you need to write will require you to reference scholarly sources.

While articles from academic journals are perhaps the most important scholarly sources, scholarly sources exist in many forms. Scholarly sources may also be books, conference proceedings, or other sources that match the scholarly criteria.

Characteristics of a scholarly source:

Authors are scholars or researchers in the field
Publication cites other sources
Publication is written in language that is either academic or specific to the field
Published by a scholarly press and reviewed
Publication is intended for academics or researchers in the field

In the peer-review process, a source is reviewed and scrutinized by colleagues in the author's field. Check to see if an article is peer-reviewed by searching the MLA Directory or Ulrich's Web.

MLA Directory of Periodicals This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Presents detailed information on more than 7,100 periodicals in the areas of literature, language, linguistics, and folklore, with 4,400 currently indexed in the MLA International Bibliography. The entries list editorial addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers, e-mail addresses, frequency of publication, descriptions of the periodicals' scopes, circulation figures, subscription prices and addresses, advertising information, and submission guidelines.
Terms of Use
Ulrichsweb.com This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Authoritative source of bibliographic and publisher information on more than 300,000 academic and scholarly journals, open access publications, popular magazines, newspapers, newsletters and more from around the world.
Terms of Use
Please note: Depending on the browser being used, a "Security Alert" message may pop-up before you are taken to the Ulrichsweb website. The Ulrichs' website is a secure site and requires a certificate to be sent by our server and due to how the certificate must be configured, the name on the certificate does not match the name of the site, which triggers the alert. This does not mean the security on the computer has been negated so clicking "Yes" to proceed should be safe.

Electronic Sources

As a member of WSU you have access to millions of information sources. SmartSearch, the Libraries Catalog, and the databases listed in A-Z Databases allow you to search for information pertinent to your research. However, not all sources provided by these services are academic articles. In fact, SmartSearch helps researchers locate music, maps, book, eBooks, and a variety of other source types.

Physical Sources

You may also find scholarly sources on the shelves of WSU Libraries. In addition to electronic sources, the Libraries Catalog and SmartSearch allow you to search for physical sources that are available in Ablah Library, the Music Library and the Chemistry Library collections.