Evaluation of Scholarly Sources

Scholars are often at the front of every controversy, and within Neuroscience it is no different. This post will evaluate two scholarly articles discussing whether or not addiction is a true disease or not. Both will be found within the search result of Google Scholar and Neuron.

epSoS.de. "Illegal Drug Addiction and Substance Abuse" 10/24/14 via Wikimedia Commons. Attribution 2.0 Generic.

The first source I found was Neuroscience of Addiction, which I found through Neuron.

What is it's purpose?

This article's purpose is to explain the science behind addiction within the brain. It uses animal models to explain how the brain functions differently when afflicted with addiction.

How and where is it published?

It was published at the Scripps Research institute in California. It was written as a sole article within Volume 21, Issue 3 of Neuron.

What kinds of sources does it cite?

This author references 85 different sources, including articles from well known organizations such as the American Psychiatric Association.

Who is the author?

There are three authors of this article. George Koob, who is renowned for his research on alcohol abuse, and is currently directing the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Pietro Sanna, who is an associate professor at Scripps, and Floyd Bloom, who has won many awards due to his research on the histochemical analysis of the brain. All three are employed under the Scripps Research Institute.

Who is its intended audience?

This article was clearly meant for other scholars to use as a guide when referencing the brain and addiction. They use various complicated terms and charts to organize their research which could only be understood by another neuroscientist.

How did I find it?

I found this article by going to the Neuron site and searching "addiction model" and going to the second page of results.


Next, I found the article titled "The brain disease model of addiction: is it supported by the evidence and has it delivered on its promises?"

What's it's purpose?

This article's purpose is to evaluate both the brain disease model of addiction within animals and neuroimaging studies of addicts and to asses the role of genetics in addiction.

How and where is it published?

This article was published in Volume 2, No. 1 of The Lancet Psychiatry. However, there is no location listed for where this journal is published.

What kinds of sources does it cite?

This article references 74 different sources from various scientists and doctors that are all experts in addiction studies. There is even a citation for the popular book Animal Farm.

Who is the author?

There are multiple authors of this article. Dr.Wayne Hall, who is well known for his studies on medical marijuana and is the Director of the Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research. Dr. Adrian Carter who is associated with Monash University and is researching further into addiction and compulsive behaviors. Finally,  Dr. Cynthia Forlini, who is currently conducting research at the University of Queensland.

Who is the intended audience?

The intended article of this audience is also other scholars. One reason would be that in their conclusion, they are trying to convince other doctors that addiction should not be treated as a disease because it is more complicated than they would think. Also, with the terminology they use, a reader would definitely need expertise in that field.

How did I find it?

After looking for other articles related to my controversy within the Neuroscience journals, my searches came up with nothing. So, I decided to go to Google Scholar. From there, I simply searched "addiction disease" and entered that the articles should be published at least in 2014. This article was the second option.