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ANTH 110 (McIlvaine-Newsad): General Databases

Scholarly Articles

What is a "scholarly" source?

A scholarly article:

  • is based on original research or experimentation
  • is written by a researcher or expert in the field who is often affiliated with a college or university
  • includes footnotes and/or a bibliography
  • may include graphs or charts as illustrations instead of glossy pictures
  • appears in a scholarly journal published by an academic press


For more information see: Types of Periodicals


What does "peer-reviewed" mean?

Peer-reviewed journals (or "refereed" journals) are scholarly journals that publish articles that have passed through a review process:

other scholars in the author's field or specialty read the article and determine the merit of the manuscript

The review process helps ensure that the published articles reflect credible scholarship in their fields. The reputation of the journal depends on the publication of credible scholarship.

General Databases

Some databases include articles on a wide variety of subjects.  You can start your research with our most popular general database:

Remember to limit your searches (or results) if possible to articles that are:

  • peer-reviewed
  • refereed
  • scholarly
No luck?  Click on the next tab to see a list of Subject Databases.