GLG 100: Introduction to Earth Science and Lab

Characteristics of scholarly or peer reviewed articles:

• Authors are experts in the subject field. They are authorities in that field of study. Authors are highly educated.
• Articles go through a peer-review process. This is the process where the article is read by recognized researchers in the field and recommend the article for publication in the journal. They look for errors in the article/research.
• Articles are usually reports on scholarly research or case studies.
• Articles cite their sources at the end of the article in the Reference section. 
• Published monthly, quarterly, bi-annually or annually.
• Journals are geared toward scholars, researchers, professionals and college students.

Some examples of scholarly or peer reviewed journals:     

• American Journal of Psychology
• Foreign Affairs
• JAMA: Journal of American Medical Association

Characteristics of magazine articles:

• Authors are magazine staff members or free lance writers.
• Buy them at any bookstore or newsstand.
• Written for general public.
• Published weekly or monthly, sometimes daily.
• There is no peer review process.

Some examples:

• Psychology Today
• Sports Illustrated
• Time
• Vogue

Google Scholar aims to index scholarly literature found in articles, theses, books, abstracts, court opinions, and much more.  Copyright laws prevent Google Scholar from providing the full text of the information you locate.  Only when publishers provide permission to link to the full text or the sources are produced as an open source electronic format, will the full text be included.  Google Scholar does offer a feature to link the information found in Google Scholar back to a researcher's library.  WCC Bailey library is participating in Google Scholar Library links.

Use Google Scholar to

• Search all scholarly literature from one convenient place              
• Explore related works, citations, authors, and publications              
• Locate the complete document through your library or on the web              
• Keep up with recent developments in any area of research              
• Check who's citing your publications, create a public author profile