Education  

When your professors asks you to use "scholarly articles" or "academic journals," what exactly are they talking about?

Academic journals contain articles. Simply put, these are typically lengthy research essays. What makes them "scholarly" is the fact that the authors usually hold a doctorate (or Ph.D.) in the given field (history, English, etc.).

The other distinguishing factor is the fact that the articles will have undergone a rigorous trial by jury process in order to qualify for publication. It's similar to "American Idol" auditions, except that the judges are other professional scholars whose job it is to evaluate the articles.

• ERIC
  Premier resource for journal articles, conference papers and research reports in Education.
• Professional Development Collection
  Subset of education journals in Academic Search Premier. Includes full-text for over 550 titles (350 peer-reviewed), and full-text of over 200 educational reports.
• Research Library
  Provides coverage of over 2600 journals, magazines, and newspapers covering all academic subjects, including over 100 journals within the field of Education.