Scholarly journal articles are research articles that contribute to the current scholarship on a given topic. They are written by and for other researchers.
The table below describes the components of scholarly journal articles in the Social Sciences and Sciences. The majority of articles in these disciplines will have the sections listed below.
| 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. |