Identifying Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
What is a Peer-Reviewed Article?
A peer-reviewed article is one that is written by an expert in a specific field and has been evaluated by other experts in the field and found to meet certain standards for quality. Also known as scholarly, academic, or refereed articles, peer-reviewed articles are published in journals that are designed to be read by other experts in the field. As a result, the language is subject-specific.
Where do I find Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles?
Where do I find Peer-Reviewed Articles?
Some library databases contain only articles from peer-reviewed journals, but many contain a mix of peer-reviewed journal articles, trade and popular magazine articles, newspaper articles, reports, and more. You may also be looking for more than just peer-reviewed journal articles and in that case, a mix isn't a bad thing. If you want only peer-reviewed articles, limit your search. Some databases offer a checkbox that accomplishes this:
Keep in mind that even within scholarly journals, there are non-peer-reviewed articles such as book reviews and editorials. These will be in your results when you apply this limiter.
How Do I Know if the Article I've Found is Peer-Reviewed?
Peer-reviewed journal articles usually have the following elements:
- Written by an expert in that subject area. Check the credentials of the author.
- Contain a literature review to engage with previous research within the field.
- Contain a list of references either in footnotes or a bibliography.