Scholarly writing or academic scholarship tends to come from people (like your professors) producing knowledge and engaging in conversation with fellow scholars in their field. This work may be published in academic journals, as a book, a chapter in an edited volume, or an online publication.
Learn to recognize scholarly sources with the following criteria:
Remember- academic scholarship is only one type of information source. It isn't necessarily more credible or valid than other types of sources. Always be thinking critically about the author's methodologies and data analysis, and look for clear biases and political perspectives.
We gather information from all types of sources. Depending on what our project is, many types of sources might be referenced:
Consider why a source relevant to to your research project before you cite it. You might reference a source for any number of reasons, for example- an autobiography might reveal someone's firsthand account, or a news article might tell us something about how media reported on an event in the context of the times.
Regardless of what type of source you are looking for, make sure you do your own critical analysis. Determine the purpose of the source of information - is it intended to educate, persuade, or just "present the facts"? Determine the author's expertise, analyze the publication or platform and determine its purpose or audience. All of this is important and will inform your decision to incorporate the source into your research or not.
Look at the document assigned to your group and use your analytic skills to determine the following:
Group 1: The Effect of High School Socioeconomic, Racial, and Linguistic Segregation on Academic Performance and School Behaviors
Group 2: Novice Teachers' Experience in High-Poverty Schools: An Integrative Literature Review
Group 3: Free Speech on Campus