Guide to Scholarly Articles

Scholarly articles come in many different formats each with their own function in the scholarly conversation. The following are a few of the major types of scholarly articles you are likely to encounter as you become a part of the conversation. Identifying the different types of scholarly articles and knowing their function will help you become a better researcher.

Original/Empirical Studies

• Distinguishing characteristic: Empirical studies contain original research. They contain a thesis or interpretation supported by relevant data.
  • Note: Empirical studies can be subdivided into qualitative studies, quantitative studies, or mixed methods studies. See below for more information

  Literature Reviews

  • Distinguishing characteristic: Literature reviews survey and analyze a clearly delaminated body of scholarly literature.
  • Usefulness for research: Literature reviews are useful as a way to quickly get up to date on a particular topic of research.

  Theoretical Articles

  • Distinguishing characteristic: Theoretical articles draw on existing scholarship to improve upon or offer a new theoretical perspective on a given topic.
  • Usefulness for research: Theoretical articles are useful because they provide a theoretical framework you can apply to your own research.

  Methodological Articles

  • Distinguishing characteristic: Methodological articles draw on existing scholarship to improve or offer new methodologies for exploring a given topic.
  • Usefulness for research: Methodological articles are useful because they provide a methodologies you can apply to your own research.

  Case Studies

  • Distinguishing characteristic: Case studies focus on individual examples or instances of a phenomenon to illustrate a research problem or a a solution to a research problem.
  • Usefulness for research: Case studies are useful because they provide information about a research problem or data for analysis.

  Book Reviews

  • Distinguishing characteristic: Book reviews provide summaries and evaluations of individual books.
  • Usefulness for research: Book reviews are useful because they provide summaries and evaluations of individual books relevant to your research.

  Adapted from the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association : the official guide to APA style. (Sixth edition.). (2013). American Psychological Association.

  Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed-Methods Articles

  Qualitative articles ask "why" questions where as quantitative articles ask "how many/how much?" questions. These approaches are are not mutually exclusive. In fact, many articles combine the two in a mixed-methods approach.