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Decoding Scholarly Articles : 1. How Do Experts Communicate?

IMPORTANT MESSAGE

This online lesson is no longer being updated or maintained.

If you are a Columbia College student, please ask your instructor about using the Moodle version of this lesson instead.

Instructors and librarians from other institutions are welcome to copy and re-use this material.

Please contact library@columbiacollege.ca if you have questions.

Directions

Learning to recognize the standard features of a scholarly article will help you: 

  • read academic sources more effectively
  • understand the difference between popular and academic sources
  • search for articles with a better understanding of appropriate keywords 

Watch the video below for a discussion of how scholarly publishing is similar to the way fans talk to each other about something they know a lot about.  Then answer the questions about an example from your own life.

Scholarly Articles Decoded

Fandom Worksheet