The more marks in the 'Yes' column, the more likely the article or paper is to be acceptable for academic purposes.
| Analyse the references you locate |
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Abstract?
Academic articles usually start with an Abstract (summary) and end with a Reference list (Bibliography). The original print and then digitised version of an article may include an author provided abstract.(This is not always the same as the database providers abstract). |
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Reference list or bibliography?
The reference list is usually extensive and may run to several pages. Is complete bibliographic information for all cited references provided? |
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Author affiliation and qualifications?
Is the author affiliated to a university, eg. Professor? If so you may assume the journal has some academic credibility. Are the authors' academic qualifications listed, PhD, B.Sc, etc.? The authors' affiliation and qualifications may be found at the beginning of the article near the title or at the end of the article as an endnote. In a monograph of readings there may be a separate section with brief details on the contributors. |
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Appearance?
Text based, minimal use of unnecessary illustration. Advertising is limited to scholarly or academic products and services, eg. an upcoming conference, new books in the discipline, etc. |
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Format?
The body of the document is divided into sections such as Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Reference List. Tables, figures and charts may be included. May contain in-text (footnote) references. |
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Voice?
Uses technical language (jargon) and reports research. The language used is that of the discipline covered. The writer assumes some knowledge and background on the part of the reader. |
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Length?
Academic articles are usually substantial, e.g. 10 or more pages. |
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Publisher?
Often the publisher can give you a clue as to the academic status of the document. For example, are they a university, professional organisation or other recognised authority producing research? Is the journal from a large academic publishing house eg. Carfax, Sage, etc. |
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Recommendation?
Is this from a journal title specified by the lecturer in the Unit Outline? |
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