Background reserach is necessary to learn basic information about a topic. But, SCHOLARLY research is necessary to help you learn about a topic from EXPERTS.
What to look for:
- There is a list of references at the end of an article or book.
- Authors' names are included.
- The article is published in an academic journal.
- The article provides extensive research (including data, graphs, charts).
- Scholarly articles tend to be longer than background research.
(pulled from "Identifing Scholarly Articles" - University of Wisconsin)