Peer-reviewed articles are also called refereed articles. Peer review is a modern scholarly practice started in 1731 by the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Peer review process is highly respected in academic circles, which means, before the manuscript is fully accepted for publishing, the manuscript has to be examined and evaluated by experts in the same discipline as the author. Undergoing peer review usually ensures high quality and that articles measure up to academic standards. Although peer-reviewed articles are academic or scholarly, not all academic or scholarly articles are peer-reviewed. Some journals don't require the peer-review process. This research guide will show you how to identify peer-reviewed articles and peer-reviewed journals by taking advantage of OneSearch and library databases.
Conduct a search through OneSearch and select "Peer-Reviewed Journals' and click the green button "Apply Filters." Peer-reviewed articles related to your search will come out. Or you can simply click "Peer-Reviewed Journals.'
Some databases offer the feature that users can predetermine what type of articles they want to select, which is usually embedded in the "Advanced Search." The pictures below will show you a few examples from databases: Academic Search Complete, Literature Resource Center, and ScienceDirect.
If you want to know whether a journal is a peer-reviewed journal or not, please follow the following steps:
Step 1. Choose a general EBSCO database like Academic Search Complete or a subject-specific database (based on the discipline of the journal);
Step 2. Click "Publications" on top of the navigation bar;
Step 3. Type the journal title in the search box and click "Browse;"
Step 4. Click the journal title from the result list and you will view a full bibliographical description of the journal. At the bottom, you will see whether this journal is peer-reviewed or not.
An alternative approach: choose an EBSCO database; type in the journal title and click "Select a Field (Optional)" from the dropdown menu and choose "SO Journal Name;" click any article title from the result list; click the journal title and you will find the bibliographical information this particular journal, too.
If the journal being searched is not included in the database, please come to the reference desk and see the reference librarian on duty, or email us or call us at 718.262.2034.
"While nearly all of the journals collected in JSTOR are peer-reviewed publications, our archives do contain some specific primary materials (like some journals in the Ireland Collection and the 19th Century British Pamphlet Collection). This is an example of some journal content that is much older than today's standard peer-review process. This means that, though all the information in JSTOR is held to a scholarly standard, not all of the publications are technically "peer-reviewed."
