Q. How can I tell if an article is scholarly?

Ask yourself the 3 scholarly questions:

1. Who is writing?
   • Should be an expert who has a degree in the subject (ex. Bachelor’s, Master’s, PhD), NOT a journalist.
2. On what topic?
   • Should be within the subject the expert studied (ex. A nurse writes about a medical topic).
3. For what audience?
   • For other experts: will have subject-specific vocabulary, author qualifications (ex. PhD), and many citations.

Articles marked as opinion in scholarly journals are not scholarly.

Is it peer-reviewed? Google the journal’s title and look at the publication information to see if it’s a peer-reviewed journal.

Still unsure? Ask a librarian!