Library Guides @ VIU: English as a Second Language (ESL) and International Students: Scholarly Information

Finding scholarly information is necessary for university level research assignments. Scholarly sources are ones that:

Author has expertise, with PhD and is connected to a higher education institution
Contain citations and references
Author uses specialized language to communicate to other expert
May be peer reviewed, meaning that it has been reviewed by other subject experts

Examples:

- Journal articles
- Scholarly books (with academic publisher, eg. University of Oxford press)

Watch the video below created by another university for more detailed description of scholarly sources.

Non-Scholarly Information

Non scholarly sources are great for background information and building an understanding of your topic. Check your assignment instructions to see if you can cite non scholarly sources in your assignments. If not, they're still great for getting started and idea inspiration. Non scholarly sources are ones that:

Are written by journalists or enthusiasts, such as bloggers or general writers
Often general and accessible on the web
Often easy reading level for general audiences
Provide general information, news, opinions, entertainment, etc.

Examples:

news articles
magazine articles
blogs or opinion articles
websites or social media posts

For more information on how to tell the difference and evaluate sources.