Finding scholarly articles in the Social Sciences: What's the point?

Academic journal articles are one of the primary means by which professionals in a field share their ideas and discoveries with each other, and peer-reviewed journals are considered the "gold standard" in academic publishing. Even though you may not plan to become a biologist, geologist, psychologist, etc., your instructor wants you to experience the ways in which his or her colleagues communicate.

Once you do pick a college major or a professional-technical path, and move into higher level courses, you will be expected to read these kinds of articles in your area of expertise. Responsible professionals stay up to date in their fields by attending classes and conferences and regularly reading current literature like this.

And...if you want to gain recognition in your field, publishing your research in a peer-reviewed journal is a time honored way to accomplish that goal!

Image source: "graduation cap" by cocosa007 is licensed under CC0 (public domain)

There will be times in your life when you need to make important decisions--about topics as varied as finances, health, parenting, or the environment. Chances are, there is research about your topic. If you read about that research in a popular magazine, newspaper, or web site, what you read has been filtered and interpreted by a "third party."

If the information is important to your decisions, you'll want the ability to go to directly to the academic journal article and read it for yourself!

Image source: "Group team questions" by geralt is licensed under CC0 (public domain)