CIS 112: Accelerated Composition & Communication

Begin with Gale Virtual Reference Library to quickly locate overview information or to help you focus your topic idea.

Academic Search Complete is a good place to find credible and scholarly articles on a variety of subjects. 

This clickable image provides pop-ups explaining important elements of search results within Academic Search Complete.

Scholarly articles in the sciences are arranged into the parts below and usually, the parts are labeled. Every part may not always be labeled, but the content will include the following:

ABSTRACT – a summary of the article

INTRODUCTION – a brief explanation of the research topic and why this particular research was performed.

MATERIALS and METHODS – How the research was performed

RESULTS – The results of the research. An explanation of what happened.

DISCUSSION or CONCLUSION – What do the results mean?  What is significant or important of them?  What was learned?

REFERENCES – The research of others that was consulted in the writing of this article.

Scholarly articles in the humanities (such as history, literature, philosophy) look more like essays. But you can still follow the same tips for reading scholarly articles if you know what to look for.

Scholarly articles in the humanities do not follow the same format as do articles in the sciences and social sciences, with the various parts of the article neatly labeled. Instead, the humanities article will introduce the issue or problem to be discussed in the first several paragraphs and then explain how the article will build on prior research and offer a new idea or interpretation that has not yet been considered. The thesis is  then introduced, followed by discussion and supporting evidence, and wrapped up with a conclusion that explains the significance of the argument. The footnotes and endnotes contain qualifying information and additional resources. (adapted from How to Read an Article in the Humanities. Stephen J. Schuler 2014)