This question was raised in a recent ACS Chemical Health Safety board meeting, in the context of seeking goodquality "scholarly" articles for this Journal. On what basis should an article be judged as scholarly? Not surprisingly, given the eclectic academic and work background of those attending the meeting, a variety of views were expressed. There was no clear answer or consensus. If there was a majority view it seemed to be in favor of expecting scholarly articles to be "scientific". But what do these terms mean? Scholarly is a "serious detailed study of a subject" according to the online Cambridge English Dictionary.Surely, we want articles that are serious and detailed. But is this enough? Should they be "scientific" too? The same online dictionary defines "scientific" as follows: "Knowledge from the careful study of the structure and behaviour of the physical world especially by watching, measuring, and doing experiments and the development of theories to describe the results of these activities.
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