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TCOM 444 Gender, Ethnicity, Class, & the Media - Moore: Is my article scholarly?

Scholarly sources

Scholarly or academic sources include peer-reviewed (or refereed) research articles. These articles have been read, evaluated, and approved for publication by scholars with expertise related to the article’s topic. Peer-review helps insure that articles provide accurate, verifiable, and valuable contributions to a field of study.

  • The peer-review process is anonymous, to prevent personal biases and favoritism from affecting the outcomes. Reviewers read manuscripts that omit the names of the author(s). When the reviewers’ feedback is given to the author(s), the reviewers’ names are omitted.
  • Editors of journals select reviewers who are experts in the subject addressed in the article. Reviewers consider the validity of the research method and whether it offers original knowledge to a field of study.

Clues an article is peer-reviewed

Many records have accurate icons to show their peer-review status. 

Peer reviewed articles will often include statements about the peer review process

Image showing peer review information on an academic article.

Peer reviewed articles will always include citations of work that influenced and informed the methods and conclusions reached by the article.