Scientists and social scientists conduct research and usually want to share their findings with other scholars. This is especially true for those working at universities and other public or non-profit research institutions.
The primary means of disseminating research findings is through peer-reviewed journals (sometimes referred to as scholarly journals or academic journals). The idea is that, before any study is published, it will be carefully reviewed by two or more scholars who are familiar with that type of research. Here's basically how it works:
Once published, the article will be part of the body of scientific literature and will most likely be cited by students in their papers or by other scholars in their articles.
Most peer-reviewed articles in the sciences and social sciences follow the following structure:
Peer-reviewed journals may also contain what are known as Review Articles. These do not present original research but instead provide a scholarly overview of previously published studies. They have an abstract and references, but other section titles will be different.
The following are examples of these types of peer-reviewed articles:
Research Article:
Freedman, D. A., Flocke, S., Shon, E.-J., Matlack, K., Trapl, E., Ohri-Vachaspati, P., Osborne, A., & Borawski, E. (2017). Farmers’ Market Use Patterns Among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Recipients With High Access to Farmers’ Markets. Journal of Nutrition Education & Behavior, 49(5), 397–404. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2017.01.007
Review Article:
Schifferstein, H. N. (2020). Changing food behaviors in a desirable direction. Current Opinion in Food Science, 33, 30-37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cofs.2019.11.002
Note that journals often contain items such as letters to the editors and book reviews. These items do not undergo peer review, but are usually easy to spot.