POS 245: French Politics & Government: Academic Articles

Academic articles are articles that have been written by an academic (aka your professors. They have to publish these as part of their job). The academic has read extensively on the topic and possibly conducted some experiments or gathered and / or analyses some raw data as well.

After they write their article it is sent to the publisher of a journal, who sends it to several other academics in the field , and they decide whether the research is good before they allow the journal to publish it (also something your professors do).

So some things to look for to determine if an article is academic:

• It has citations from one of the major citation styles (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) in the text and with a Work Cites or References page(s) at the end.
• The person who wrote it affiliated with a University or College.
• The article is published in a Journal.
• The Journal is published by a University, College, or by some organization related to the topic (Midwest Political Science Association for example).
• In the information about the Journal, it mention the journal is "Peer Reviewed" or an "Academic Journal" or "Scholarly Journal."

You can also get help from a librarian if you're not sure!  https://libanswers.usm.maine.edu/