Writing 120B: Art & Beauty

What are scholarly articles?

Scholarly articles (also called peer-reviewed articles) present new ideas, refute earlier ideas on a particular topic or expand on previous ideas.  They are created by scholars and represent a conversation among thinkers in a particular discipline.

What is the peer-review process?

1. Researchers write an article and submit it to a scholarly journal (also called a refereed journal or a peer-reviewed journal).
2. The journal editors send the article to other expert researchers in the field, known as peer reviewers.
3. The peer reviewers read the article and make a recommendation regarding whether the article is worthy of being published in the journal. They will consider factors such as the significance of the research findings and the quality of the scholarship. They will typically also suggest changes to improve the article.
4. The journal editors decide whether to publish the article based on the peer reviewers' feedback. Often, they will ask the authors to make changes suggested by the peer reviewers before the article is re-considered for publication.

Be aware that not everything published in a scholarly journal is a peer-reviewed article. Scholarly journals also include book reviews, editorials, and other content that has not been peer-reviewed.

Finding Information on the Internet: A Tutorial
This site from the University of California, Berkeley will:

• Train your eye and your fingers to employ a series of techniques that help you quickly find what you need to know about web pages;
• Train your mind to think critically, even suspiciously, by asking a series of questions that will help you decide how much a web page is to be trusted. [from the web site]

Five Criteria For Evaluating Web Pages
From the Cornell University Library, this site provides a quick and coherent guide to web site evaluation.