How Do You Know if a Journal Article Is Peer Reviewed

How to recognize peer-reviewed (refereed) journals

In many cases professors will crave that students utilize articles from "peer-reviewed" journals. Sometimes the phrases "refereed journals" or "scholarly journals" are used to describe the same type of journals. But what are peer-reviewed (or refereed or scholarly) journal articles, and why exercise faculty require their use?

Three categories of information resources:

• Newspapers and magazines containing news - Articles are written by reporters who may or may not be experts in the field of the article. Consequently, articles may incorporate incorrect information.
• Journals containing articles written by academics and/or professionals — Although the articles are written by "experts," any item "expert" may accept some ideas that are really "out at that place!"
• Peer-reviewed (refereed or scholarly) journals - Articles are written by experts and are reviewed past several other experts in the field before the article is published in the journal in order to ensure the commodity's quality. (The article is more than likely to exist scientifically valid, accomplish reasonable conclusions, etc.) In most cases the reviewers exercise not know who the author of the article is, and so that the commodity succeeds or fails on its ain merit, not the reputation of the good.

Helpful hint!

Non all information in a peer-reviewed journal is actually refereed, or reviewed. For instance, editorials, messages to the editor, book reviews, and other types of information don't count every bit articles, and may not exist accepted past your professor.

How practise you determine whether an commodity qualifies as existence a peer-reviewed journal article?

Starting time, you need to be able to identify which journals are peer-reviewed. In that location are generally four methods for doing this

1. Limiting a database search to peer-reviewed journals only.
   Some databases let y'all to limit searches for articles to peer reviewed journals only. For example, Academic Search Complete has this characteristic on the initial search screen - click on the pertinent box to limit the search. In some databases you may accept to go to an "avant-garde" or "expert" search screen to do this. Remember, many databases practise not let y'all to limit your search in this way.
2. Checking in the database Ulrichsweb.com to make up one's mind if the journal is indicated as being peer-reviewed.
   If you cannot limit your initial search to peer-reviewed journals, y'all volition need to check to see if the source of an article is a peer-reviewed journal. This tin can be done by searching the database Ulrichsweb.com. Go to the alphabetical listing of databases and click on the "U". Select Ulrichsweb.com. It helps to type in the exact title of the source journal including whatever initial A, AN, or THE in the championship. If y'all don't find the periodical you lot are interested in, you may desire to use Method 3 beneath. If your journal title IS displayed, check to come across if the journal is indicated as being refereed by having the symbol next to the title.
3. Examining the publication to see if it is peer-reviewed.
   If by using the starting time two methods you lot were unable to identify if a journal (and an article therein) is peer-reviewed, you may so need to examine the journal physically or look at additional pages of the journal online to determine if it is peer-reviewed. This method is not always successful with resource available but online. The post-obit steps are suggested:
   1. Locate the periodical in the Library or online, then place the most current unabridged twelvemonth'southward bug.
   2. Locate the masthead of the publication. This often consists of a box towards either the front or the finish of the journal, and contains publication information such as the editors of the journal, the publisher, the place of publication, the subscription toll and similar data.
   3. Does the journal say that it is peer-reviewed? If so, you're done! If not, move on to footstep d.
   4. Check in and around the masthead to locate the method for submitting manufactures to the publication.  If you lot find data similar to "to submit manufactures, send three copies…", the periodical is probably peer-reviewed. In this instance, you are inferring that the publication is then going to send the multiple copies of the article to the journal'south reviewers. This may not always exist the example, so relying upon this criterion alone may prove inaccurate.
   5. If you exercise not see this type of argument in the first issue of the periodical that yous look at, examine the remaining journals to run across if this information is included. Sometimes publications will include this information in only a unmarried result a year.
   6. Is it scholarly, using technical terminology? Does the article format approximate the following - abstract, literature review, methodology, results, conclusion, and references? Are the manufactures written by scholarly researchers in the field that the periodical pertains to? Is advert not-existent, or kept to a minimum? Are there references listed in footnotes or bibliographies? If you answered yes to all these questions , the journal may very well be peer-reviewed. This determination would be strengthened by having met the previous criterion of a multiple-copies submission requirement. If you answered these questions no, the journal is probably not peer-reviewed.
4. Find the official spider web site on the internet, and check to see if it states that the journal is peer-reviewed. Be careful to utilise the official site (often located at the periodical publisher's web site), and, even then, information could potentially be "inaccurate."

Helpful hint!

If y'all have used the previous iv methods in trying to decide if an article is from a peer-reviewed journal and are still unsure, speak to your instructor.

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Source: https://www.angelo.edu/library/handouts/peerrev.php

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