Skip to Main Content

Peer Review

How to identify and find peer-reviewed articles

What is peer review?

Peer-reviewed journal articles (also called scholarly or refereed articles) are written by expert researchers and reviewed by other experts in the field. Peer review refers to a process in which information sources are examined and approved by a number of experts in that subject area before being published. Scholarly articles or books will usually be read by two or three academic reviewers who will suggest to reject or accept the article/chapters (with no, minor or major revisions) for publication. Peer-reviewed journal articles are often used as the main component of academic research. Using peer-reviewed material is a good way to make sure that the information you are receiving is creditable and correct.

Watch this video below for an introduction to the peer review process:

 

More information and useful links

Where do peer-reviewed articles fit into the information timeline?

The timeline below demonstrates the creation of scholarly information, including where peer-reviewed fits in. It is very important to consider when a peer-reviewed article was published in order to understand where it fits into the scholarly conversation you are studying.