Skip to Main Content

ENG: College Composition : West Potomac High School Dual Enrollment (Alexandria)

Direct comments to aanderson@nvcc.edu

Overview

How Scholarly?

Sources of information can range from being not scholarly, to very scholarly, to somewhere in the middle.  Each source will go somewhere on this scale:

0  |---------------------------------------------------5---------------------------------------------------|  10
Least Scholarly              
e.g., childrens' books
Mid-Level
Sources that are not as scholarly, but
still credible, include popular periodicals
such as magazines and newspapers.
            Most Scholarly
Scholarly sources typically
include academic journal articles.

Things to Consider:

Sources that fall on the more scholarly end of the scale will typically have these characteristics:

Author Credentials

Most scholarly - expert with advanced degree (e.g., Ph.D., M.D., J.D.) in relevant subject

Audience

Most scholarly - other experts, professionals, or scholars in that subject area; vocabulary and concepts very advanced/technical

References

Most scholarly - extensive list of scholarly sources

Publisher

Most scholarly - a university, professional, or academic press; for example: Oxford University Press, American Psychological Association, Elsevier

Editing/Review

Most scholarly - the author's peers (experts in a subject area) critically evaluate all aspects of the work; this is called Peer Review.  It can also be called Refereed.

purpose

Most scholarly - to inform about a new discovery, such as the results of a research study; should be objective (it may support a particular side, but with documentation and fair consideration of the other side)

  For more information, go to:  libguides.nvcc.edu/scholarly-info  

All images are in the public domain or under Creative Commons licenses. 

More Information on Scholarly Journal Articles