Health Sciences and Human Physiology and Nutrition Research

Is it scholarly? A checklist: 

• Was the article peer reviewed?
  • If the article is in a journal, you can see what the journal's standards for peer review are on their website
• Was the article published in a journal?
  • Usually you can find this information at the top or bottom of the page, in the corners or near the page numbers.
• Does the article list the author's or authors' credentials and workplace?
  • Look by the authors' names for footnotes. 
  • Check online outside of the article to see if the credentials/workplace are accurate 
    • Ex: search an author's name and see if the school they claim to work at has a faculty page for them
• Is there an abstract, methodology, or other typical paper sections? 
  • Scholarly articles tend to have standard sections, especially in STEM fields like medicine and health science. 
  • A methodology (or methods) section should include information on whether an article is based on original, scholarly, research (making it a primary source) or other studies (which would be a secondary or possibly tertiary source)
• Is there a (somewhat lengthy) works cited list?
  • Scholarly articles will always have a reference or works cited list. Unlike newspaper or magazine articles, these tend to be rather long.

Still not sure? Ask a librarian for help!

What does it mean when we say an article is "scholarly"?

A scholarly article is created by researchers for researchers. Its formatting and design reflects this purpose. The results, methods, and conclusions of the article are laid out consistently for easy reading by experts, and the language of the article tends to be technical and designed to speak to other experts in the field.

Are all scholarly articles reliable? 

No, even with the peer review process in place, scholarly articles can still be flawed, poorly conducted, and biased. Check out the evaluating research page to learn some additional techniques for evaluating the quality of scholarly articles. 

Not everything in a scholarly journal is peer reviewed. Here are some source types that can be found in a scholarly journal:

• Editorial/Commentary
  • These are opinion pieces. Although they tend to be informed opinions from experts in the field, these pieces usually aren't subject to peer review. 
• Theory
  • Theory pieces explore the underpinnings of care and health science. These pieces may or may not be subject to peer review depending on the journal, and they tend to not include an actual study or experiment. 
• Research
  • Research articles are usually the evidence based practice and, in a peer reviewed journal, are subject to peer review. 
• Continuing Education
  • These are pieces, usually for nurses, that discuss studies or research on new care standards, interventions, or practices. They may summarize or include a study or studies, but usually have a quiz and different formatting than a standard scholarly article. 

• Abstract
  • The abstract is a brief summary of the article. 
• Introduction
  • The introduction introduces the problem, question, or main idea and the bigger context of the paper.
• Literature Review
  • The literature review discusses what other studies or information already exists around this topic.
• Methodology
  • The methodology details how the study was conducted, who was in the sample, how the sample was taken, and what analysis was used to reach the results.
• Results
  • The results are usually tables or statements about what the study uncovered. 
• Discussion
  • The discussion is where the authors talk about what the results indicate or mean in the context of their research question.
• Conclusion (and Limitations)
  • The conclusion wraps up the paper, suggests future research directions, and typically addresses any limitations of their research. For instance, how well does the sample represent reality? How broadly can we apply these results? What could have affected the outcomes of this study?