How do I know that the article is scientific?

When writing an essay or thesis at the university level, scientific articles are usually the most important sources. Therefore, you need to know how to determine whether an article is scientific or not.

Characteristics of a scientific article

Scientific articles are mainly published in scientific journals. They have different requirements depending on the research field, but they always present new research. Scientific articles have a clear structure and often include:

• The author's institutional address or affiliation.
• A structure following the IMRaD model.
• Peer review information, which you may need to check in the journal. Sometimes the article will list the received and accepted dates, for example:
  Received 10 August 2016
  Accepted 14 October 2016
• Scientific articles always have in-text references and a reference list at the end.
• The target audience is primarily academic.
• The article is written in clear, academic language. It is often written in English.

Characteristics of a scientific journal

Determining whether a journal is scientific is challenging even for the most experienced researcher, especially with new research and publishers emerging constantly. For students, it's even harder, but there are key signs:

• The journal has a unique name that stands out.
• The publisher's name is clearly shown on the journal's website.
• Contact information for the publisher, such as phone, email, and postal address, is easy to find.
• It is clear how the journal conducts peer review. For example, do they use independent or external reviewers? How many reviewers assess each article?
• The publisher does not provide rapid peer review.
• It is indicated where the journal is indexed, for example, in databases such as Web of Science, PubMed, or Scopus.
• There are clear guidelines provided for researchers wishing to publish in the journal, including information about copyright, publication fees, and formatting.
• Journals published as Open Access are searchable in the Directory of Open Access Journals, DOAJ.
• Journals offering Open Access options are members of one or more industry organizations, such as the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association, OASPA.

You can find information about journals on their website. Keep in mind that not all content in scientific journals is peer-reviewed. They also include editorials, book reviews and news from the research world.

Peer reviewed

In some databases, you can limit your search to scientific journals by selecting Peer reviewed or Peer reviewed journals. However, even if you do this, you still need to review the article yourself to ensure it is truly a scientific article.