An academic or scholarly resource has been written to "inform and report on original research or experimentation" (Franklin University Learning Commons, 2023). Academic/scholarly resources are usually journals or journal articles.
A peer-reviewed resource has been "reviewed by scholars or researchers in the field." This can take YEARS to complete!
When searching in a database, look for an option to filter by "scholarly journals," "peer-reviewed journals," or something similar.
Example: Journal of Popular Culture
Struggling to read a scholarly article? You're not alone! They can be very dense and difficult to read. Watch the below video for some tips and tricks on reading and understanding scholarly articles.
Pro tip: try using the CTRL + F (COMMAND + F for Mac users) feature to search quickly for key words, phrases, names, etc. within a document.