Scholarly vs. Non-Scholarly Sources - EDC 201 - Early Childhood Discipline: Growth and Development

Scholarly vs. Non-Scholarly Characteristics

CHECKLIST OF SCHOLARLY CHARACTERISTICS

Books

	Scholarly	Non-Scholarly
Is the author / editor an expert in his/her field?	Yes	No
Is there a bibliography at end of chapters or the end of the book?	Yes	No
Does the book contain footnotes?	Yes	No
Does the overall tone/content appear scholarly?	Yes	No

Articles

	Scholarly	Non-Scholarly
Is there an author?	Yes	No
Is there more than one author/editor?	Yes	No
Is the author / editor an expert in his/her field?	Yes	No
Is there a DOI (Digital Object Identifier)?	Yes	No
Are the articles long? (5 or more pages?)	Yes	No
Is the emphasis on text? (Few if any pictures)	Yes	No
Are there charts and graphs?	Yes	No
Is there a bibliography at the end?	Yes	No
Does it contain footnotes?	Yes	No
Does the overall tone/content appear scholarly?	No	No

Web Sites

Websites are seldom “scholarly.” Instead the user often has to choose between a source of “reliable” and “unreliable” information.

	Reliable	Unreliable
Is the person or organization responsible for the website identified?	Yes	No
Does the website cite its sources?	Yes	No
Is the person or organization responsible for the website an expert in the content presented on the site?	Yes	No
Does it cite reliable sources to support its argument?	Yes	No
Does it sound open minded and fair?	Yes	No
Is the general appearance of the website (graphics/spelling) well maintained and of good quality?	Yes	No
Does it avoid commercialism?	Yes	No

Checklist of Scholarly Characteristics - Downloadible

Evalute these resources - Scholarly vs. Non-Scholarly. Reliable vs. Unreliable.

Exceptions To The Rule

Few resources check all the Yes boxes or all the No boxes.

Many resources will exhibit a mixture of characteristics.

If unsure about an article or book, the most important characteristics of "scholarlyness," is the presence of a bibliography.

What is 'Peer-Reviewed?"

What is peer reviewed? Some publications have editorial boards consisting of experts in the field who review articles for reliablilty and scholarship.

Example of a Peer Review board:

Tips on Finding Scholarly Resources

1. Avoid the internet.

2. Use Thrift Library Resources.

3. Limit your results to Peer Reviewed. (See below)

4. Determine that your resource contains most of the characteristics listed on the checklist to your left.

Peer Review Limiter - Located on left side of OneSearch screen

You can limit your results to Peer-reviewed Journals in OneSearch with an easy click.

However...

This only only tells you your article was found in a scholarly journal. Scholarly journals sometimes contain both scholarly and non-scholarly content.
There is no limiter in OneSearch for books or eBooks

Google Scholar

About Google Scholar
Google Scholar is a way to search the internet for scholarly resources. While many are located behind a paywall, they can be ordreed for free via Interlibrary Loan.

EDC 201 - Early Childhood Discipline: Growth and Development: Scholarly vs. Non-Scholarly Sources