Scholarly articles are written by experts in a particular field for other experts or students in that field. Their purpose is to inform and/or report on original research and keep that field up-to-date on recent findings and news. Think of scholarly work as an ongoing conversation!
Peer review is the process of having one or more persons who have the same competences as the work's creators evaluate the work. It serves as a mechanism for competent professionals within the field to self-regulate, catch and fix mistakes before publication.
The authority of a source depends on the purpose of creation and of use. If you are writing an academic paper, looking for scholarly sources and peer-reviewed articles can help you make sure that your information is reliable.
Keywords are the words that most accurately describe the topic you want. As you search, look in the records you find for additional or more exact keywords or phrases to use.
Think about different words an author might have used.
Use these special words ("operators") to connect your keywords
Depending on the database, this could be searching by Title, Author or Publication Date. Also look for Descriptors or Subject Terms assigned to relevant articles, then search by those terms.
Don't hesitate to contact a librarian if you are having difficulty finding relevant articles. For more information, see the Home tab of this subject guide.