Understanding the research process and the structure of a research article will help you to identify scholarly articles.

Scholarly/peer reviewed articles: 

• A formal process in journal publishing  
• A group of reviewers and editor evaluate the article for quality and accuracy.
• What to look for: author affiliations, abstract, methodology, results, bibliography 

Trade Journals: fall between the category of magazines and journals, the focus is on industry, a product, or business. Written by experts in the field or a member of an society or organization. . Ex. GA Document, Architect, Landscape Architecture Magazine, Planning Magazine

Popular magazines: opinion based - ex. Time magazine, Buffalo News --- public opinion on a topic

Scholarly (peer-reviewed) journal articles follow a structure and typically contain these features: 

• Abstract: an overview of the entire article’s content. It gives a brief description of the problem or hypothesis, the participants, methodology, statistical analysis, results of study, and the implications of the study.
• Introduction: Background to the research topic/problem and identifies research questions (purpose statement).
• Methods: A detailed description on how the data was collected and what instruments/measurements were used.
• Analysis: Explains how the data was analyzed.
• Results: The findings or results of the research problem/study – usually in graphs or charts. Understanding the tables and charts in the results section is extremely important in understanding the article.
• Discussion: The implications of the results, comparing results to other studies, hints to new research needed.
• References: The cited articles used throughout the paper. Could also include a literature review or the literature review might be detailed in a section after the introduction.

Quick overview of an article: -Identity: Who, what, when, where?
Who is the intended audience? How were the research questions identified and answered? How new/old is the literature on the topic? Are there subtopics within the article?

Notes to take about the article: -Words or ideas that repeat themselves -Conflicts or contradictions in the information -How is the topic relevant to your research question?

How to read a research article:

If asked to review an article, read over carefully:
1.Read critically - Did the author answer the research question? Was the problem solved? Are there any questions that arose from the reading that the author did not answer or solve? Was the data presented logically and understandably? Are there any omissions or limitations?

2. Read creatively - Were the ideas presented informative? If you were to continue the research, what other points would you address?

3. Take notes and underline key points made by the author.

After reading the article, can you summerize it succinctly? 
Write down the main idea and the supporting statements or subpoints of the main idea.