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CLDV 01: Scholarly and Popular Articles

Introduction to research sources relevant to the discipline of Child Development.

Scholarly & Popular Articles

  • Use scholarly articles when you need the results of a research study, such as an experiment, survey, focus group, film or literary analysis, etc.
  • Trade articles are focused on industry-related topics, practical advice, and news related to a profession.
  • Popular articles include those from newspapers and magazines, which focus on current events and human interest stories. They will sometimes also report about a research study, but you need to refer back to the study to get more detailed information.

Knowledge Test!

Select which article best represents a scholarly PEER REVIEWED article.
Teaching the Immigrant Child: Application of Child Development Theories.: 47 votes (92.16%)
Inquiry Inspires Original Research.: 4 votes (7.84%)
Total Votes: 51

Databases in the EbscoHOST group

Selecting the specific databases to use for your subject is the first step in a successful EBSCO search.  For this class, please choose the following (note: do NOT select all):

  • Academic Search Complete

  • Omni File Complete

  • Master File Complete

  • Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection

  • Psyc Info

  • Communications and Mass Media

Once in EBSCO, choose your databases by selecting Choose Databases.

Select and Log in using your Merced College Portal Student.Name and Password

Select from the list of 30+ EBSCO databases 2 ways:

1: From the list of all databases:

  

 

2.  From within an EBSCO database:

 

Scholarly Journals and Periodicals

Anatomy of Scholarly Journal Articles

Scholarly articles include original studies and review articles that contribute to the current scholarship on a given topic. They are written by experts for other experts and are published in journals, many of which are peer-reviewed, meaning that they have been reviewed by other experts before being published.

In the Sciences, researchers will be sharing the results of experiments. In the Social Sciences, researchers will be sharing the results of interviews, surveys, etc. The table below describes the components of scholarly articles in the Sciences and Social Sciences. The majority of articles in these disciplines will have the sections listed below.

Scholarly articles in the Arts and Humanities may read more like essays, rather than reports on scientific experiments, since scholars are making logical arguments based on the evidence they have researched and analyzed. They won't necessarily have labels like those for the Sciences and Social Sciences articles.

Abstract Brief summary of the article, including research question, methodology and results.
Introduction Background information about the topic, leading up to why this study is being done, and may include a brief literature review.
Methods Description of how the study procedures, set-up and how data was collected.
Results/Findings Presentation of the data from the study. This section often includes tables, charts, or other visualizations of the data.
Discussion Analysis of the data and how the study relates to existing knowledge of the topic. The authors evaluate whether their results answer their research question. 
Conclusion The authors wrap up the article by discussion how their study contributes to the research on this topic and outline future  potential research questions or studies. 
References List of resources that the authors consulted when developing their research and subsequently cited in their article.

Scholarly vs. Popular Periodicals

Vanderbilt University, Peabody Library (3:12)