Identify Scholarly Sources

This guide will help you understand what scholarly sources are, distinguish them from non-scholarly sources, and recognize the importance of peer-review.

Scholarly sources generally share the following characteristics:

Many research assignments will require you to use scholarly sources, but that's not the only reason to use them. Reading and referencing scholarly sources can enhance the quality of your paper.

Incorporating their work into your writing through references and quotations adds weight to your argument and demonstrates that you are familiar with the topic (Murray & Hughes, 2008; Wang & Park, 2016).