page from a journal with sections highlighted and numbered

That the publisher specializes in scholarly publications:
- You will probably see a publisher listed. You can search them to see if they specialize in academic research.
- They might be an scholarly organization (ex. American Psychological Association), a professional organization (ex. American Medical Association), a university press, or a for-profit publisher (ex. Sage Publications).
If the author or authors are credentialed:
- Credentialed means that the authors have done the work to be "provided with...credentials," according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
- In other words, they have done the academic labor of achieving degrees, compiling and publishing research, submitting papers, going through peer-review, and other forms of professionalization.
- They will likely list some credentials, such as affiliation with a university or research organization.
There's an abstract.
- An abstract is a brief summary of the article.
- While not always present, it is often standard before a scholarly journal article.
- It helps you understand the author's intentions, methods, and outcomes, and helps you decide if you want to use the article without having to read the whole thing.
Keywords.
- Not every article will have keywords listed like this on the main page, but most will have them in the database record.
- If you think any of the keywords describe more clearly what you're trying to research, try using these keywords to search!

A literature review summarizes and synthesizes the research an author has done to lay the foundation for their work.
It helps you as a reader understand what scholarship the author has consulted, and which scholars influenced their thinking in which ways. All scholarly sources should credit earlier scholarship.
This is a great section in which to look for background information and additional articles using the in-text citations and references.

page of journal representing methodology

If the author conducted an original study, they will include a section that details their research strategy they followed.
This assures the readers (and their peer reviewers) that they pursued ethical means of research, and outlines the steps they created and followed to get there.
It will also inform the reader of the types of methods they chose and why, which can help the reader understand the mechanics of their study and the results.

page of a journal references page

A heavy reference page is a good indicator that the author or authors did a fair amount of research to establish credibility and participated in a significant and serious scholarly conversation. All the sources in the literature review should have full references in the article.
While research can take many forms (a scientific study, for example), a published scholarly article won't be complete without evidence that the author or authors consulted with peers and experts to shape the course of their research.
This can result in agreement, or argument -- hence the nature of a conversation. When you do college-level writing, you too are participating in the ongoing conversation.