A scholarly, peer reviewed article is one that is written by a researcher and is based on that scholar's research. Peer reviewed articles are reviewed by fellow researchers in the field prior to being published (hence the term "peer reviewed") All peer reviewed articles are scholarly, but not all scholarly articles undergo a peer review process before publication.
Books can also be scholarly in focus, written by experts for an audience of other experts and researchers in the field. Scholarly books are typically published by scholarly and university presses. They can be helpful resources for overviews of research, descriptions of theories or models, and examples of literature reviews.
Characteristics of a scholarly article include:
It is often not possible to address each article published on your research topic. You'll need to evaluate the articles you find and decide which sources to include in your literature review. Here are some points to consider when deciding what to include.
In addition to the above, you should also read and include any landmark studies in your review. You will be able to identify these because they are mentioned in textbooks, are highly cited, or have been assigned as required reading by your professor and/or advisor.