How Do You Know if a Website Is an Academic Journal

Tips to identify whether a source is scholarly and reliable

---

It is of import to discover apparent sources of information while researching for manufactures and other scholarly cloth to write an essay, a research paper, or any other academic task.

Commonly, the resources are collated and compiled from a multifariousness of sources such every bit newspapers, books, periodicals (journals and magazines) and websites. Some of these resources are considered pop sources whereas the others are considered scholarly sources.

When conducting literature search, do you feel uncertain nigh a source's authenticity and credibility? In this article, we focus on identifying 'scholarly' sources for obtaining reliable data to be presented for academic work such equally class assignments, dissertation, or thesis writing.

Tips for referring to popular sources

Newspapers and magazines are considered every bit 'popular' sources. They cater to a broad audience and have articles that are written by professional writers (for example, a journalist who might non be an skilful in the field) in a more general manner using common/popular language; these do non follow whatsoever specific format and rarely have references or endnotes.

Books and journals, on the other hand, are considered 'scholarly' publications which are intended for specialist readership of researchers, academics, students, and professionals. They publish in-depth articles and reviews on specific topics written by specialists and researchers in bailiwick expanse who utilize technical, subject-specific jargon. Autonomously from having a standard format, these publications are ever accompanied by tables/figures and previously published articles equally references.

Although popular sources are non without merit and may also contain well-considered writing, the purpose of distinguishing between these types of works is to determine their caste of potency and depth of research on a given topic, and thereby their intrinsic academic value. If the projection at hand allows it, y'all could depend on reliable pop sources.

Tips for referring to scholarly sources

Scholarly sources are also referred to as academic, peer-reviewed, or refereed sources. These are the sources researchers rely on. So let us discuss the three categories to which such scholarly sources belong - journals, books, and online resource.

1. Journals

An article published in a journal volition have the following characteristics:

Authors: Names of the authors with their academic credentials, institutional amalgamation, address, and electronic mail addresses are provided alongside every publication. Make sure that the author(s) and/or corresponding author(due south) are experts in the field, are affiliated to an unbiased reputable organization or credible academic institution/university, take had previous publications in peer-reviewed journals or books for which references can be institute.

Publishers: Publishers are usually academic publishing houses, universities, research organisations, professional person bodies, or other recognised authorities producing inquiry.

Basic information, such as the names of the editorial board members and the Editor-in-Chief, is mentioned on the journal's website. You will as well find information near the guidelines followed by the journal; for example, Committee On Publication Ethics (COPE) or International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Examples of some well-known publishers include Springer, Elsevier, Taylor & Francis, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, SAGE Publishing, Macmillan, American Clan for the Advancement of Science, Nature Publishing , etc.

Here are certain things you must look at when ascertaining the credibility of a journal:

• Make certain that the contact details and 'well-nigh' information is provided. Sometimes, the periodical might be associated with institutions or societies. Wait them upwards on the cyberspace to get more than data. Wait out for the blazon of peer review the journal offers, and if all the details about their policies, licenses, and copyright terms are mentioned.
• Ensure that the information on the journal website has been recently updated and the links provided are upwardly to date and working. E'er check whether the journal website is office of a commercial organisation, a political party, or an organisation with a specific agenda, which might result in the information on the website being biased.
• Author guidelines: The types of articles published by the journal and the guidelines to set the manuscript, artwork, and supplementary materials should be clearly indicated on the periodical website.
• Journal metrics: Some journals offer data on their influence such as Eigenfactor, SCImago rankings, CiteScore, Source Normalized Impact per paper (SNIP), etc.
• Abstracting/Indexing: E'er ensure that the journal in which the article is published is indexed and abstracted in reputed databases like Clarivate Analytics,  MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, EBSCO, PsycINFO, IEEE Explore, SciELO, CiteSeer X , etc.

Content: The content of the article is targeted towards a specific audition in that bailiwick expanse. The article more often than not follows a format or structure including abstruse, keywords, introduction, methodology, results, discussion, conclusion, bibliography. The length of the article may vary depending upward on the journal guidelines. All-encompassing reference to by research is a key feature of academic works. References are cited both in-text and recorded in footnotes or in a reference list at the end of the article; recent relevant references of the by 3-five years is a good indicator of a scholarly article. Scholarly manufactures normally contain illustrations in the form of graphs, charts, and tables to depict the results of the research work.

The content should be non-biased and provide a very objective review or report on a item topic stating both strengths and limitations of the study. Manufactures with numerous typographical mistakes, grammatical errors, or other inaccuracies are not reliable. Search for the citations of the article on library databases or on Google Scholar.

two. Books

Books have been a source of information from time immemorial. The post-obit points should be borne in mind while scouring books for scholarly content:

Authors: Always check the credibility of the author past verifying the biography details. Ensure that the author is an practiced in the field of study, confirm the writer's institutional amalgamation, other publications of the writer, and check if the publisher stands to benefit from the research or argument presented in the book.

Publisher: Books published by university presses, professional or trade associations, authorities offices, institutes, research centres, and reputable commercial publishers are usually trustworthy and have scholarly content. Searching for book reviews online, which can provide clues as to whether a source is scholarly and highlight the intended audience, can be useful. Visit the publisher'due south website and find out more than information near the publisher to ensure that it is not a vanity press.

Content: Checking for the following aspects can give a fair idea as to the authenticity and relevance of the book for scholarly data:

• Does the championship of the volume indicating its specificity of the topic?
• Multiple editions indicate the book is well-regarded plenty to take been through revisions, and has been updated.
• Scrutinizing the preface and introduction of the book helps in assessing the author's perspective and the presence of whatever biases in the volume.
• Scanning the table of contents, abbreviations, and index is helpful to know what facets of the subject/topic the book covers.
• Browsing the publication dates of references and/or a bibliography tin help in assessing the reliability and accuracy of the information given in the book.

three. Websites : Online search is the nearly popular and convenient mode to observe data. Nevertheless, circumspection should be exercised while procuring information from any website. Here are some tips:

Actuality: URLs or website addresses can reveal the following information:

• Government sites apply .gov and .mil domains. Educational sites use the .edu domain. And non-profit organizations use .org whereas business sites utilize .com. By and large, .gov and .edu sites are considered more trustworthy than .org and .com sites.
• Browse the web folio for a name, email address, or the "Nearly Usa" or Contact Us" page to determine who created the site. Using search engines will help you in obtaining biographical information about the publisher of the website.
• Usually, symbols similar ~ and %, or words like 'staff' and 'students' are oft used to signify a personal website and are found on the site URL. They might show up in official areas, simply might non exist officially sponsored by that grouping since students and faculty are frequently granted their ain individual space on academy or school websites. Data on such websites often consists of personal opinions and might not be fully reliable.
• Searching for the history, the funding, and the focus of the organization supporting the website helps in ascertaining the authenticity of the website.

Content: Surveying the content of the website can reveal a lot about the intent of the information presented:

• Bank check for the timeframe/timeline and geographical location that the topic addresses; check when was the website created and updated to ensure that the information presented is upwardly-to-engagement.
• Browse the website for the types of links and citations that are present on the website. Read the contents of the website carefully to determine that the data and facts added value to the topic and are not prejudiced, manipulative, or distorted.

Decision

Describing and discussing correct and mistake-gratuitous information is a vital function of any academic writing. We hope that the pointers given in this commodity will aid you in finding valid sources of scholarly material. It is always a practiced idea to check with the librarian and library databases of the institution/university for accurate scholarly sources. While the verification procedure may have a flake of your time and effort, existence certain of the authenticity of your sources volition help you advance in your task with more confidence.

Related reading:

• Gathering useful resources for time to come publication
• Tips for effective literature searching and keeping up with new publications

Published on: Jul 31, 2018

gonzaleznotneinme.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.editage.com/insights/tips-to-identify-whether-a-source-is-scholarly-and-reliable

Share this post