Biology: For Students: Scholarly Articles +

This three minute video provides a quick overview of features of scholarly articles.

Scholarly works have specific qualities that set them apart from the popular works like newspapers, and magazines, e.g. Time, Newsweek, etc. 

Original Research or "Primary" sources
Scholarly journals publish researcher's original work. The articles will tell you:

• what, why, and how the researcher did the work
• results of the work, including key data (often in figures,tables, or charts)
• provide a discussion of the results and conclusions about the work

Review Articles or "Secondary" sources

These are articles describing our state of knowledge on a topic. They are not "original research" but are still scholarly, and still peer reviewed.  A recent peer review on your topic is a goldmine of information about important papers to go find. 

Written by and for experts in a particular field
Scholarly articles are written by authors who have credentials and experience with the subject to alert other experts to what they found. Typically, the language used includes technical terms and jargon common to that field.

Published in a journal specific to the field
Many specialty areas have journals dedicated to that field, and this can be an indicator of its scholarly emphasis.

About "Peer-Review" or "Refereed"
Most scholarly journals have a peer review process.  Before acceptance and publication by the journal, a panel of experts (not the journal editor) will review & evaluate the article. Suggestions for changes are often made to clarify certain points, or it could be rejected. The process is sometimes noted on the article itself with submitted, reviewed, accepted dates.

Not sure if a journal is peer-reviewed?

• Visit the journal's website - look for links labelled "instructions for authors" or "editorial board"
• On an individual article, look for a series of dates: submitted, accepted. If those two dates have a substantial gap? That's a clue that peer review was happening
• The database Ulrich's Periodicals Directory is another place to check if a journal is listed as "refereed". After searching using the journals name, look for the little icon that looks like a referee's shirt. 

Abstract: summary of the article

Introduction:

background information and a description of the author’s purpose  

Materials & Methods:

how the study was performed with enough detail so that other scientists could repeat the study  

Results: includes new observations, data and findings 

Discussion: a description of what the findings mean and their implications; address potential criticisms

Reading scientific articles is a skill that you develop. Unlike a book chapter or magazine article you might read from start to finish, scientific journal articles (particularly research articles) are organized in a way that facilitates a more selective reading process, i.e. skimming and/or reading sections in a different order. 

There is no single way to correctly read a scientific article. Even the researchers you're working with (PI, postdocs, grad students) may their own way of breaking down and reading articles, both within and outside of their field. Along with asking about their practices, here are some other resources: