As a researcher, it is good to know that not only it is important to conduct high-quality research, but it is also crucial to give credibility to the research articles you want to publish. Making your work stand out from the millions of other research publications is challenging, but citing good quality scientific sources is one way to make your research stand out!
What Is a Scholarly Source?
A scholarly source is an article or publication written by an expert on a particular subject in which the information is updated, accurate, and of excellent quality. Usually, this information is obtained from the researcher’s findings, theories, analyses, and insights from years of research.
Scholarly sources can include journal articles, books, conference publications, and even websites.
How are Scholarly Sources Different from Popular Sources?
Unlike scholarly sources, popular sources may not be written by experts in the field. Typical sources include newspapers, magazines, book reviews, and editorials that are non-technical and appeal to the general public. Although conventional sources are easier to understand, they may not always contain reliable information.
Scientific sources undergo a rigorous review process before they are published for the verification of facts or the identification of conflicts of interest. Therefore, they are much more reliable.
Why are Scholarly Sources Important?
1. Ensure impartiality
Scholarly sources prevent confirmation bias. Since they are derived from years of research on a subject, they offer authentic, unbiased views of the research topic, which is highly preferable.
2. Provide credibility
Citing scholarly sources is the best way to establish the credibility of your research publication.
3. Lend authority
Since scholarly sources contain verified expert knowledge, citing them lends authority to your research submission.
What Characteristics Should a Scholarly Source Have?
Here we review the special features that can help identify scholarly sources:
1. Publisher
Publishers for scholarly sources generally include university presses, professional associations, academic institutions, and commercial publishers.
2. Peer-review
Scholarly sources are generally peer-reviewed; that is they have been reviewed and verified by review boards comprising specialists in the field. However, you should note that in some cases, articles may not be peer-reviewed and still be considered scholarly.
3. Purpose
The purpose of scholarly sources is to communicate highly academic, research-based ideas.
4. Accuracy
Information in scholarly sources is factually and grammatically accurate. Additionally, a bibliography or a list of references generally accompanies scholarly publications to verify and acknowledge the sources that they are derived from.
5. Author details
You will find the names of all the authors along with their respective qualifications and institutional affiliations in a scholarly source, which adds to its credibility.
6. Lack of bias
Scholarly sources are based on facts and not opinions, with the information free of any confirmation or political bias. The authors appeal to the reader’s sense of logic and not emotion while writing the article.
7. Intended audience
Scholarly sources are largely meant for scholars, researchers, faculty, academicians, and other experts in the field. Since they are not written for the average reader, the language used can be highly technical.
8. Timelines
Sources used for the scholarly publication are usually quite recent, meaning that they had been published three to five years before the date of the scholarly publication itself.
Where Can You Find Scholarly Sources?
Popular search engines which contain scholarly sources, including Science Direct, Google Scholar, Microsoft Academic, WorldWideScience, ResearchGate, PubMed, JSTOR, Academic Search Premier, and OneSearch, provide thousands of scholarly sources based on various subject areas. You might be able to find scholarly sources in your university library as well!
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