Scholarly journal articles (also called peer-reviewed, academic, refereed) are the best types of articles for psychology literature reviews and other assignments. Most upper-level classes require the use of scholarly articles in literature reviews.  It is important to use scholarly articles in your assignments because they:

• provide higher quality information than popular magazines
• show you the work of other psychologists
• offer research findings rather than unfounded opinions. 

Check out the "Scholarly or Popular?" video tutorial to learn the differences between scholarly (peer-reviewed) journal articles and popular magazine articles.

Scholarly Journal Article Titles:

• Specialized and specific
• Long and have subtitles with colons
• Describe the subject being discussed
• Examples:
  • Knowledge and Attitudes about HIV/AIDS Among Community-Living Older Women: Re-examining Issues Of Age and Gender (Dr. Hillman)
  • Pretend and Physical Play: Links to Preschoolers' Affective Social Competence (Dr. Lindsey)  

Popular Magazine Article Titles:

• ​Try to catch the reader's attention
• Often short and witty
• Flashy headline
• Examples:
  • Majoring in Fear
  • Look at the Big Picture