Scholarly Journals
Articles published in scholarly journals are written by researchers who are experts in their field. People who write for academic journals are employed by colleges, universities, or other institutions of education or research. They submit articles to the editors of the journals, who decide whether or not to publish the article.
Peer-Review Journals
These are the most prestigious academic journals. Articles are subject to the peer-review process. They must be reviewed by several experts before they are accepted for publication. These experts suggest possible changes and recommend to the editor of the journal whether or not to publish the article.
Professional Literature
Articles are written by people working in the field. Articles cover news in the field, brief reports on research and articles about trends. Most publications will have letters to the editor, opinion pieces and advertisement focused on that particular trade, occupation or area of interest. In Criminology the following journals are considered professional literature.
Primary research is usually first presented in an academic journal. The authors report on the process and results of their primary research. The article is divided into sections and should include; introduction, literature review, methods, and materials, results, conclusions/discussion and references. Sometimes the sections have slightly different names. Primary articles tend to be more complex than other types of literature, but the abstract can help give you a general understanding of what will follow in the article.
Below is an example of a journal article. Please click on image for the full text of the article.
A journal article will display the title of the journal, the volume, the pages and the date on the first page. The location of this information varies by publisher. The more recent article may include a DOI (digital object identifier).
To cite this article using APA parenthetical citation you all list all authors (up to 5) when citing for the first time. In the subsequent citations use only the first and et al. If using in text format do not include parentheses.
(Pollock, Joo, & Lawton, 2010)
Subsequent citation (Pollack, et al., 2010)
Use this format when citing an article in your Reference List.
Pollock, W., Joo, H-J, & Lawton, B. (2010). Juvenile arrest rates for burglary: A routine activities approach. Journal of Criminal Justice, 38, 572-579.
Review articles are another type of article appearing in a scholarly journal. Rather than reporting on original research, as a primary research article, a review article reports on the current state of knowledge about a topic, by presenting recent research about the topic.
This example of a review article “aims to review empirical research on residential burglary over the last three to four decades and relate these findings to a model of ‘dysfunctional expertise’ (Nee & Ward, this issue) that is rooted in mainstream cognitive psychology.” (Nee, 2015).
A journal article will display the title of the journal, the volume, the pages and the date on the first page. The location of this information varies by publisher. The more recent article may include a DOI (digital object identifier).
To cite this article using APA parenthetical citation you all list all authors (up to 5) when citing for the first time. In the subsequent citations use only the first and et al. If using in text format do not include parentheses.
(Nee, 2015)
Subsequent citation (Nee, 2015)
You would cite this article in your Reference List:
Nee, C. (2015). Understanding expertise in burglars: From pre-conscious scanning to action and beyond. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 20, 53-61.
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