A scholarly journal is a periodical that contains articles written by experts in a particular field of study. The articles are intended to be read by other experts or students of the field and are usually much more sophisticated and advanced than the articles found in popular magazines. Many instructors assign research papers or projects that require students to use articles in scholarly journals. This guide offers tips to help distinguish scholarly journals from other periodicals. Scholarly articles reflect the systematic and thorough study of a single topic, often involving original research, experimentation, and surveysArticles are written by a scholar in the field; the author is always. Authors of scholarly articles always list the sources of their information (e.g., endnotes, footnotes, bibliographies) Articles usually contain an advanced vocabulary; since the authors use the technical language or jargon of their field of study, they assume the reader already possesses a basic understanding of the field of study.