Opticianry (Dale Mabry): About scholarly articles

What are scholarly articles?

Many of the sources you will find in the library catalog discovery search (Primo) and library idatabases are scholarly articles. Scholarly articles are written by academics and highly-credenctialed practitioners, and are reviewed before publication by other experts. This is why these types of articles are called "peer-reviewed".

What is their purpose?

Articles in recognized peer-reviewed journals and open-access scholarly sites are part of what is known as the scholarly conversation. They are one way in which academics and high-level practitioners in a field commnicate new research and practice with each other. The diagram below gives a guided tour of the typical scholarly article.

While the following demonstrations are done in databases of history articles, the methods and strategies can apply to library databases that cover any subject.