Welcome! This guide will help you find journal articles and other scholarly sources to provide evidence of informed reading on your topic, and form the foundation of your written work.

What is a scholarly journal?

A scholarly journal is a publication released in regular instalments which contains research relating to a particular subject area. These are often referred to as periodicals or serial. 

Journals are useful when you:

• are seeking information for your assignment or literature review
• need to find recently published papers on a particular topic
• want to identify important and current research in your field
• commence the ‘scoping exercise’ for your research project.

Most journals contain peer-reviewed or refereed articles written by academics, scholars and other experts in a field of study, which are rigorously evaluated by other experts in the same field as the author. The process of peer-review or refereeing is a form of scholarly quality control that ensures the information is original, authoritative and of a high standard. 

You can learn more about peer review and scholarly sources in our Evaluating Sources guide.