Scholarly journal articles (or essays) are written for other experts and scholars in order to share research findings and ideas about a very specific topic. Typically, a researcher's goal is to have their article accepted for publication in a reputable journal within their field of study.
Articles in scholarly journals are valued for several reasons. Most importantly, you should use scholarly sources because they are:
TRUSTWORTHY and CREDIBLE
Journal articles are written by experts and typically go through a stringent publication or review process, which helps to insure a high level of accuracy.
RECENT
Journal articles often contain the first reports of new research or ideas.
Libraries provide access to scholarly journal articles. You will typically start your search for articles by using a library database or a tool that searches multiple library databases all at once. For more information about finding articles, use the tips and tools provided on the Find Articles page.
This video from UNC Libraries does a great job of explaining the differences between starting your research on the Internet and starting with library databases.