Scholarly is a general term that refers to to items written by scholars or experts in a field. it assumes high level of quality, transparency, and ethical process. This might be reflected in extensive references and attribution, editorial or peer review, or in the case of university presses, a non-profit model.
Scholarly items could include books, book chapters, reports, and more. Therefore, librarians ask, "What type of scholarly resources do you need?
Peer review is a specific term describing a process for examining and evaluating research for publication.
While it would be more accurate to separate the terms, they tend to get conflated to Peer-reviewed sources.
If you have already decided to do a scoping or systematic review and have questions, please find the subject specialist librarian for your department, and contact them for an appointment. If you are not sure who that is, or if you have an interdisciplinary topic, you can make a general appointment request. While some librarians may have drop-in times, it is best to give three working days advance notice on a request.
If you have general questions, or would like to contact the author of this guide, see the "Your Librarian" box, bottom left.
Critiques and summarizes a body of literatureConclusions often relate to the scope of literature, or needs for research -- e.g., " there is a shortage of studies on ______________."
Scoping Review
Examples: Understanding nurses dual practice...,
The scoping review process is very similar to systematic reviews.
Systematic Review
Longer overview article: Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
Getting familiar with the structure of articles, can help you to:
Typical article structure:
Title - often long and technical.
Author Information - author name, affiliation (ex: university or laboratory) and contact information.
Citation - article title, journal or source name, volume and issue information and pagination. Also, DOI numbers are used in APA style.
Abstract - a summary of the whole article.
Introduction - outlines the problem being examined -- the purpose or hypothesis.
Methodology - how the research or experiment was performed. In order for research to be reproducible, methodology must be thoroughly described. This may include discussion of materials, instruments, and subject selection. Examination of a methodology section will determine if research is primary (data gathered by the researchers) or secondary (researchers using data sets or other information compiled by others).
Data/Results - data in tables, charts, figures, or illustrations.
Discussion/Conclusions - explains and interprets the results, drawing a final conclusion about the problem. Primary research may bring new information to the discipline, or may confirm or dispute previous findings. Review articles may recommend research questions.
References - sources given in a consistent style.
Are all articles in scholarly journals or in databases peer-reviewed research?
No. Depending on what types of research you need to review, you may have to attempt to exclude certain types of articles. This may be part of your search strategy.
If you have access to our databases (on-campus or with the GALILEO password), click the examples below.
