In academia, these scholarly resources are usually published in books, edited volumes, or scholarly journals. One of the main characteristics of scholarly journals is the process of peer review. Research articles under consideration for publication in a scholarly journal are sent to experts in the subject field (peers) for evaluation and comment (review).
This Peer Review in 3 Minutes video tutorial created by North Carolina State University covers: how peer-reviewed articles are different from other types of publications; how peer-reviewed articles are tied to teaching and learning activities on college campuses; and where to go for help in finding peer-reviewed articles. See also their helpful resource Anatomy of a Scholarly Article.
Open Access publishing is a movement that makes scholarly content available free of charge. The UNC Libraries support open access, open archives, and open repositories as methods to encourage the widest possible access to scholarly content.
There are a lot of resources listed here and even more within the library's webpages. Don't get overwhelmed! You do not need to search them all. The resources in this guide are here to help you find material that is more tailored to the topics of this course. They may or may not be a perfect fit for your unique research needs. Try searching in a few new spots for each research project you do, stretch out of your comfort zone a little at a time, and always ask for help from a librarian if you have questions.