 Often at university, you'll be told to use scholarly, academic or peer-reviewed sources to support your ideas in your assignments. But what does this mean? Scholarly sources can also be called academic sources. These include journal articles, books, book chapters, conference papers and theses. Sources such as Wikipedia, newspaper articles, magazines, trade journals, newsletters, blogs, social media sites and personal websites, on the other hand, are not. They can be useful for background reading around a topic, but they're not scholarly resources. So, let's look at what a scholarly source is. A scholarly source is written by researchers within a subject area. Reports on research findings. Contains comprehensive in-text citations and a reference list or bibliography. Users specialise terminology and a formal writing style. And is often peer-reviewed or refereed. A peer-reviewed or refereed journal article is assessed by experts within the field before it is published. If the article does not meet publication standards, it can be rejected or sent back to the author for revision. Peer-reviewed articles should include all the details, including the organisation they work for. An abstract which summarises key points, evidence of research findings, in-text citations and a reference list. Many search tools such as databases and the library catalogue allow you to limit your search to scholarly, academic or peer-reviewed articles. Books can also be scholarly. A scholarly book is written by experts within the field, is published by a reputable, well-known publisher, has a table of contents, provides in-depth information on a topic or subject area, includes an index to look at terms, as well as in-text references and a reference list. Look for these clues when searching for scholarly sources. If you need help, just ask.