Research 101

Different sources of information serve different purposes and you will find that you will need to turn to a variety of sources and formats to answer your questions. For example, at some points in your research you might need to read scholarly articles and at other times you might need to access multimedia or go on the Web for information. It's important to know when it is appropriate to go to one type of sources over another.

Interactive graphic from North Carolina State University

Click on this interactive graphic to see the different parts of a scholarly article.

From the video. A scholarly article: 

• Can also be called a peer-reviewed, academic, or refereed article.
• Is written by an expert in the field.
• Includes original research.
• Has a narrow area of focus.
• Is written for other scholars.
• Contains a uniform structure.
• Contains a detailed bibliography.
• Is published in academic journals.

Scholarly articles:

• Are published online or in print in scholarly journals.
• Can be found in databases by using the filter tool or by doing an advanced search.
• Can be accessed through Google Scholar (though might not include full text).
• Are mostly accessed via a subscription to a scholarly journal or database.
• Can be borrowed through interlibrary loan (ILL) if the full text is not available on the Web. Contact your librarian for access to ILL.