Why Articles?
Articles give you a short focused treatment of up-to-date content. The articles in scholarly journals go through a peer-review 
process -- reviewed by experts -- before publication. The result is information that is more reliable.
Use articles from scholarly journals when you need original authoritative research; publications written by scholars or subject experts; factual documented information to reinforce a position; and references that point you to other relevant research.
Scholarly journals are published more quickly than books, although the peer-review process can be lengthy.
(A Tapestry of Time and Terrain, Vigil et al, 2000, USGS Investigations Series 2720.)
Popular Journals
- AAPG Datapages/Archives This link opens in a new window
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Access to American Association of Petroleum Geologists publications, including AAPG Bulletin, AAPG Special Volumes, Journal of Petroleum Geology, Petroleum Abstracts Discovery file, as well as publications by several regional groups. Includes access to the GIS-UDRIL (GIS Upstream Digital Reference Information Library) database of projects in GIS formats. Note: Petroleum Abstracts is ceasing operations and access will end on December 31, 2024.
Related & Multidisciplinary Resources
In addition to the Top Picks on the Home tab, these databases include earth science and multi-disciplinary content:
- ScienceDirect This link opens in a new window
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From foundational science to new and novel research, discover our large collection of Physical Sciences and Engineering publications, covering a range of disciplines, from the theoretical to the applied. - Web of Science: Core Collection This link opens in a new window
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Access the world’s leading scholarly literature in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities and examine proceedings of international conferences, symposia, seminars, colloquia, workshops, and conventions. - SciFinder-n This link opens in a new window
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Use CAS SciFinder-n in identifying a chemical substance and its related chemical structures, molecular formula, chemical names, reaction components, regulatory information, and properties, including CAS Registry Numbers®, reaction schemes, step-by-step experimental procedures, detailed conditions, and product yields.
Access Note: Database use is restricted to current Mines-affiliates only and requires an individual user account to access. First-time users must register for an account using your @mines.edu email. - Engineering Village This link opens in a new window
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Engineering Village is the information discovery platform to search across both Compendex and INSPEC databases. The thesauri on Engineering Village comprise the controlled vocabulary used to index articles in the Compendex, Inspec, GeoRef, GEOBASE and EnCompass databases.
Scholarly, Professional, Popular? Evaluate:
What kind of information do you need? If you are writing for a class assignment, you may be required to use peer-reviewed ("refereed") or scholarly sources. In any case, you should always look for sources that are authoritative.
Scholarly Checklist -- Look for:
- Authors listed, with credentials
- Bibliography, references, or works cited
- Reviewed by peers or experts in the subject
- Published by a reputable publisher
- Purpose is to inform or impart knowledge, not to sell, persuade, entertain
- Appears impartial--few or no advertisements, no emotional language, unbiased
- Includes data, observations, statistics, or graphics to support conclusions
- Includes specialized or technical language or concepts
Authoritative Checklist -- A source can have authority even if it isn't scholarly.
- Author and/or publisher is an expert on the subject, for example:
- Manufacturer's catalogs
- Legal or regulatory information
- Author's affiliations and contact information are available
- Publisher or sponsoring organization is reputable (e.g., for websites, look for the domain; .gov or .edu sites are more likely to contain unbiased information)
- Cites scholarly or high-quality sources in references list/bibliography
Other Criteria to Consider -- These are not definitive, but worthy of consideration:
- Do you see errors in spelling, grammar, data?
- Is the publication in turn cited by other credible works published later?
- How current is the information? (No date? Be suspicious.)