Basics of Social Research

What is a "scholarly," "academic," and/or "peer-reviewed" journal?  What makes a scholarly journal article different from other kinds of sources? 

• Article length is longer and content is in-depth.
• Article is written by expert/s in the field, and their name(s) and credentials are provided.
• The article's language includes concepts and/or jargon of the field for scholarly readers.
• The article has a structured arrangement, often with these parts: abstract, literature review, methodology, results, conclusion.
• Illustrations support the text.  These might include statistical tables, graphs, or charts.
• Content is peer-reviewed, which means it has been judged for quality and accepted for publication by a group of experts in that field of study.
• Bibliography/works cited/footnotes document the research.