The Arts and Humanities
Within the Arts and Humanities, scholarly articles are set up differently than in the Sciences. Articles will read more like essays, rather than scientific experiments. As a result, there is no standard format or sections to look for as in the table above. Although an article written in an essay style may seem more approachable to read, the rule still applies that the authors are writing for other experts in their fields, so they might still be very difficult to read because of terminology and jargon from the discipline.
In the Humanities, scholars are not conducting research experiments on participants but rather are making logical arguments based on the evidence they have, which often comes from texts. In literature, for example, a scholar will be studying a particular novel of an author. In history, a scholar will look at the primary source documents from the time period she is studying.
The following sections are generally included in humanities scholarly articles, although not always and might not be clearly marked. In fact, each article you read on a topic will have different section headings, if any, decided upon by the authors and editors.
| Abstract |
This brief summary is sometimes included, sometimes not. |
| Introduction |
Usually pretty long and gives a lot of background information for topic being studied. Thesis "statement" will be found within introduction, although it is not limited to one sentence. Literature Review might also be included here. |
| Discussion/Conclusion |
The discussion likely runs through the entire article and does not have a separate section. The conclusion might not be as neatly wrapped up in a humanities articles as in the sciences. Things might be a little unclear. |
| Works Cited |
List of resources used by the author(s). |
Adapted from The City Colleges of Chicago: https://researchguides.ccc.edu/c.php?g=516083&p=3571310
