NUR 130: Health Promotion and Risk Reduction

Newspapers, magazines and journals are called periodicals because they are issued/published on a regular or "periodic" basis (usually more frequently than once a year.)

Periodicals are usually separated into four major groups:

• Magazines
• Newspapers
• Trade/professional
• Scholarly/peer review.

If you are able to recognize the differences between a magazines, newspapers, trade/professional, and scholarly/peer reviewl source, you can focus your research to retrieve only the type of articles you need.

Characteristics of a 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.
• Articles are usually reports on scholarly research or case studies.
• Published monthly, quarterly, bi-annually or annually.
• Journals are geared toward scholars, researchers, or professionals.
• Jargon, articles that use research terms difficult to understand, is a reason why journal articles are hard to read.

Types of research articles include:

• Randomized Control Trials
• Empirical Study
• Quasi-experimental study
• Quantitative study
• Qualitative study

Some examples of scholarly or peer reviewed journals:     

• Journal of Pediatric Nursing
• American Journal of Nursing
• JAMA: Journal of American Medical Association

Once you identify a great article, look for the following

• An abstract at the beginning of the article -- summary of the researchers/authors argument, approach and conclusion
• Author(s) -- scholarly articles usually have two or more authors -- author credentials and affiliations are listed on first page or last page of article
• Specialized Headings/Sections in the article -- include:
  • Introduction -- One to several paragraphs describing the subject content of the article
  • Methodology --  This section will provide information about what data was collected and who participated in the study
  • Results -- This section will provide information about the results of the study
  • Discussion - The purpose of the discussion is to interpret and describe the significance of research study and provide any new insights from the research
  • Conclusion -- this section will provide the findings of the research and any recommendations and limitations of the study
  • References or bibliography -- an extensive list of references used in the research of the article is provided at the end of the article.

Note: The structure and format of peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts (articles) are changing. You might find peer-reviewed articles without a separate literature review and conclusion sections. These sections will be part of the introduction and discussion sections. 

Scholarly and professional journals feature articles written by researchers and practitioners in a particular subject area. The authors often have particular specialties. Peer groups of researchers, scholars and professionals within a specific discipline are the audience for scholarly literature.

Peer review is a well-accepted indicator of quality scholarship. It is the process by which an author's peers read a paper submitted for publication. A number of recognized researchers in the field will evaluate a manuscript and recommend its publication, revision, or rejection. Articles accepted for publication through a peer review process implicitly meet the discipline's expected standards of expertise.

Articles in some scholarly and professional journals are not peer-reviewed, but are selected by an editor or board. Standards of scholarship in such journals are often equal or comparable to those of peer-reviewed publications, although this is not always the case.

Source: University Libraries, University of Nevada, Reno.