How do I determine if my source is a scholarly article?

What is peer review?

The BEAM model outlined below can help you determine how to use the sources you have found. As you examine your results, ask yourself if the source falls into one (or more) of the categories below.

Background Sources

• Rely on them for information accepted as unquestionable fact
• Provide general information to explain a topic
• Sources to consider: books, encyclopedias (either general or subject-specific), articles.

Exhibit Sources

• Materials a writer is interpreting or analyzing
• Used to provide an example of or give evidence for a claim
• Sources to consider: Depending on your topic and discipline, scholarly books or articles, a film,  novel, a data set, an interview, experimental results, a diary, letters, a work of art, etc.

Argument Sources

• Information from other authors you are agreeing with, disagreeing with, or building upon
• Citing them puts your research in the context of other scholarship on that topic--brings you into the conversation
• You use your exhibit sources as examples of why you agree with, disagree with, or want to add more to what was claimed in your argument sources
• Sources to consider: articles, books.

Method Sources

• Materials an author follows to determine how they are doing their research
• Sources to consider: Course readings, books, articles, Can include research procedures, theories