Finding scholarly articles in the Social Sciences: Definition and description

A scholarly article is...

• Written by an expert in a particular field such as communications, sociology, political science, or psychology 
• Written with the intent to advance knowledge in that field by sharing new analytical techniques, new information, or new insights about a topic 
• Written for an audience of other experts in that (or related) fields

Anatomy of a Scholarly Article

Take a look at this very helpful web page created by librarians at NCSU (North Carolina State University).

Common Characteristics of Most Original Research Articles

Most research articles have common elements and organization, including the following:

• Written by multiple authors (usually three or more)
• Authors are always identified and their credentials displayed
• Long, technical article titles with specialized terminology
• Lengthy--a minimum of six pages, often twenty or more
• Divided into sections
  • Introduction that includes the problem, question(s), and research objectives
  • Literature review: a description of what other scholars have written about the problem
  • Methods or Approach
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • References
• Article abstracts will include words such as:
  • Methods, Study, Results
  • Randomized, Double blind, Placebo-controlled
• Article text will describe and analyze the problem, experiment or study, with technical language or jargon understood by others in that field
• Chart, graphs, and/or tables often included
• Lengthy references list
• Published in professional or scholarly journals

• Carraro, L., & Castelli, L. (2010). The implicit and explicit effects of negative political campaigns: Is the source really blamed?. Political Psychology, 31(4), 617-645. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2010.00771.x

• Hibbs, D. A., & Piculescu, V. (2010). Tax toleration and tax compliance: How government affects the propensity of firms to enter the unofficial economy. American Journal of Political Science, 54(1), 18-33. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2009.00415.x