KIN 2530 Sport in Society

Watch this short video from the great folks at North Carolina State University Libraries for a clear explanation of the peer-review process.

Not sure if a journal is peer reviewed?

Look it up in Ulrich's Global Serials Directory! Search the title and then check the "Refereed" colomn to find out whether the title is a peer-reviewed journal.

Is everything in a peer-reviewed journal a peer-reviewed article?

So, you used the scholarly/peer-reviewed filter in your search. All of the results qualify as peer-reviewed sources, right? Wrong. 

Book reviews, columns, editorials, letters to the editor, brief news items don't count as peer-reviewed articles.

There are some very basic things you should think about when you evaluate information. You probably use these criteria without realizing it, but it's good to see them spelled out.

Authority

Who wrote or created the item? Is this person an expert? What credentials does this person have?

Purpose

Is the item meant to inform, entertain, or persuade?  

Scope

Does the item give surface information or does it delve deeply into a topic? Depending on your information need, an item may not be suitable if it gives you too much or too little information.

Reliability

How reliable is the source? Is it an anonymous blog, an articles in an established journal? Does it cite sources, or are statistics and facts included with no information about where these came from?

Currency

When was the item created? Outdated information isn't helpful outside of a historical context.