Communication (UNH Durham)

You will be using scholarly and peer-reviewed articles.

• Scholarly (aka academic) articles are written by and for scholars and researchers - this means you!
• Peer reviewed (aka refereed) articles have been checked by other scholars BEFORE they're published.

Most databases will tell you if it's an article from a peer reviewed journal - see Publication Type near bottom of article information.

Different types of articles are written for different reasons!

• Original research or experimentation: shows original research using EMPIRICAL evidence, data collected by the article's authors themselves or by others (for example, US Census data) (Example)
• Reviews of literature on the topic: uses SYNTHESIZED evidence to create a critical survey and analysis of what is currently published on a specific topic - includes narrative literature reviews, systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-synthesis (Example)
• Articles that create or explore a theory, framework, or model of thinking: use INFORMATION about other theories or frameworks to describe development of a theoretical approach, compare theories, or discuss issues surrounding a theory (Example)
• Opinions/perspective articles: these comment on a topic and require no original research. They may appear as an article in a column, editorial, letter to the editor, etc. (Example)

Check:

• the database record for the article, which sometimes indicates whether a journal uses peer review
• the journal website, especially under About Us or Information for Authors (Example)

Note: Not everything in a journal is peer reviewed; letters to the editor, book reviews, news items, and other short works without listed references are typically not peer reviewed the way more substantive articles are.

It summarizes the scholarly conversation happening about your topic. It...

• Makes you an informed researcher/applicant
• Provides perspective by situating your work within the knowledge base (theory & practice) of your field
• Supports your research idea/proposal or identifies a gap needing further research
• Provides ideas for research design; for example, quantitative or qualitative approaches or instruments to use
• Provides credibility to grant proposals