Scholarly or academic journals are the most authoritative and current sources of information for library research in the sciences.
Scholarly journals, also called academic journals, contain articles written by and for experts in a discipline and are often published by professional organizations. They are concerned with academic study, especially research. The main purpose of these journals is to report original research or experimentation and to communicate this information to the rest of the academic world. Sources are always cited, and biographical information about the author(s) is provided. The language of scholarly journals reflects the discipline covered and assumes some knowledge or background on the part of the reader.
Many scholarly journals use a process of peer review prior to publishing an article. In the peer review process, other scholars in the author's field or specialty critically assess a draft of the submitted article. Peer-reviewed journals (also called refereed journals) are journals that only publish articles that have passed through this review process. The review process helps ensure that the published articles reflect solid scholarship in their fields.
While not all scholarly journals go through the peer-review process, it is usually safe to assume that a peer-reviewed journal is also scholarly.
Picture credit:
Thompson, J. (2012, May 5). Long-tailed broadbill (Psarisomus dalhousiae) [Photograph]. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/79492850@N00/7150464839
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