Why Journal Articles?
The Big Difference
Ever wonder why your instructor requires you to use articles from journals in your research paper?
Whether they are referred to as journal articles, peer-reviewed, refereed, or scholarly articles, understanding and using these sources will be critical to your academic success. Your instructors (as well as the providers for our SPC databases) often use these terms interchangably.
What is the difference between popular magazines and journals?
Popular magazine and newspaper articles rely on reporters and editors to provide the information you might cite in your research paper. Journal articles, on the other hand, rely on a panel or editorial board of experts and specialists in that field to examine the scholarship and quality of research before the article is allowed to be published. Most research published in journal articles is highly sourced (based upon much previously published research in the field). This system of review allows you as the student to trust the reliability of the research.
See the next tab on how to narrow results to just journal articles in the SPC article databases.