How to Read an Academic or Scholarly Journal

Parts of a Journal Article: The Citation Info Article Title Journal Title Author(s) Volume and Issue Date

How do I tell if it’s a good article? Is it relevant to your specific topic? How old is it? What journal does it come from? *The more you study a topic, the more familiar you will get with the journals that have a good reputation in that field. What country is it from? *This may or may not matter. What is your project? Do you need U.S. or worldwide data for your project? What country is it from?: This will only matter for certain topics. For instance, all Change Project topics are supposed to be local and most QUEST topics are based in the U.S., so international journals may not help.

How do I tell if it’s a good article? Who is the author? What institution do they come from? (University? Research organization? Government?) *You’re looking for a reputable, well-regarded university or institution. You’ll get familiar with these too. Long, “meaty” research articles, not “short and fluffy” They should cite the sources they used, and if stats/data given, explain how they got them.

Academic Journal Articles that are not research study reports might be… Literature reviews Opinion pieces Articles about the current state of a topic Articles recommending action Etc…

In addition to academic journals, databases have… Reference articles Periodicals E-books Recommended websites Most databases will identify the type of source, and allow you to do a search for academic journals only.

The Body of the Article Specifically for journal articles reporting the results of research studies Abstract Literature Review Methods Results Discussion Recommendations for future research

More info about: The Abstract A summary of the study, 1 paragraph Written in 3rd person (“the authors…”) Includes: Problem Sample Methods Results Recommendations for future research

More info about: The Literature Review Reviews past studies in the field by others Points out areas where research is lacking Connects past research to need for current study. (support/challenge/add to past research?) Ex of last 2 points above: …It is evident that the majority of the existing research in the field of information seeking has focused on the behaviors of college students completing research projects within the university curriculum after several years of research instruction. There is a lack of information about the information seeking behaviors of American youths when they enter high school. This study focuses on the research behaviors of American 9th grade students as they enter their first year of high school.

More info about: Methods section Includes: -Sample size -Sampling method -Data collection method(s) -Data analysis method(s) -Drawbacks/errors/faults in study design and things that did not go as planned (_% of participants did not return survey; there was a poorly designed question, etc.)

More info about: Results section (This will be the main section you’ll focus on as someone citing their research) Connects data to original research question Highlights important findings Does data prove/disprove/qualify the hypothesis? Shortcomings and areas of further research

Cite Academic Journals Differently! www.irvington.org/mla Purdue OWL Citations in database can help, but CHECK the format, esp. caps How do you know it’s an academic journal? : easiest way is to look at how the database sorts it