What is the difference between scholarly and peer-reviewed articles?
In a nutshell, "scholarly" denotes that the piece was published by an expert for a group of other experts, researchers, or students. "Peer-reviewed" goes a step further, implying that the paper was evaluated and criticised by the author's peers who are professionals in the same field. The quality and importance of these papers can be judged from their publication in reputable journals. Nowadays, there is no clear distinction between scholarly articles and popular magazines. Many scholarly journals have broad interest and cover several topics within their specialities. They often include short reports (called "notes", "briefs", or "letters") as well as longer pieces. Some are available online only. Others may require a fee to read. Some scientific journals limit access to those who can pay the publication charges. In general, the more selective the journal, the fewer people will be able to read it. People sometimes confuse scholarly articles with books. This is not really accurate since books are published by one single author or editor while multiple authors contribute to scholarly publications. Finally, scholarly articles are reviewed by peers because experts know how valuable their work is and want to see it published. So, the main difference between a scholarly article and a popular magazine is that scholars want others to read about their work while editors of magazines want as many readers as possible.