How to Tell if a Journal Is Peer Reviewed

How to recognize peer-reviewed (refereed) journals

In many cases professors will require that students utilize articles from "peer-reviewed" journals. Sometimes the phrases "refereed journals" or "scholarly journals" are used to depict the same blazon of journals. Merely what are peer-reviewed (or refereed or scholarly) periodical articles, and why practice faculty require their use?

Three categories of data resources:

• Newspapers and magazines containing news - Manufactures are written past reporters who may or may not be experts in the field of the commodity. Consequently, articles may contain incorrect information.
• Journals containing articles written past academics and/or professionals — Although the articles are written by "experts," whatsoever particular "expert" may have some ideas that are really "out there!"
• Peer-reviewed (refereed or scholarly) journals - Articles are written by experts and are reviewed by several other experts in the field before the article is published in the journal in order to ensure the commodity'south quality. (The article is more likely to be scientifically valid, achieve reasonable conclusions, etc.) In most cases the reviewers practise not know who the writer of the commodity is, so that the article succeeds or fails on its own merit, non the reputation of the expert.

Helpful hint!

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

How practise you decide whether an article qualifies as existence a peer-reviewed periodical commodity?

Commencement, yous demand to be able to identify which journals are peer-reviewed. There are generally four methods for doing this

1. Limiting a database search to peer-reviewed journals only.
   Some databases allow you 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 have to go to an "avant-garde" or "expert" search screen to exercise this. Remember, many databases practise not let you to limit your search in this way.
2. Checking in the database Ulrichsweb.com to determine if the journal is indicated every bit being peer-reviewed.
   If y'all cannot limit your initial search to peer-reviewed journals, yous will demand to bank 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. Get to the alphabetical listing of databases and click on the "U". Select Ulrichsweb.com. It helps to blazon in the exact title of the source journal including whatever initial A, AN, or THE in the title. If you lot don't find the journal you lot are interested in, y'all may want to utilize Method 3 below. If your journal championship IS displayed, bank check to run into if the journal is indicated every bit being refereed by having the symbol next to the title.
3. Examining the publication to meet if information technology is peer-reviewed.
   If past using the first two methods y'all were unable to identify if a journal (and an commodity therein) is peer-reviewed, you lot may then 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 non always successful with resources available merely online. The following steps are suggested:
   1. Locate the journal in the Library or online, and so identify the nearly current entire year'due south bug.
   2. Locate the masthead of the publication. This oftentimes consists of a box towards either the front or the stop of the periodical, and contains publication information such as the editors of the periodical, the publisher, the identify of publication, the subscription cost and similar information.
   3. Does the periodical say that it is peer-reviewed? If so, yous're washed! If non, move on to step d.
   4. Cheque in and around the masthead to locate the method for submitting articles to the publication.  If you find information similar to "to submit articles, send iii copies…", the journal is probably peer-reviewed. In this instance, you are inferring that the publication is then going to send the multiple copies of the commodity to the journal's reviewers. This may non always exist the example, so relying upon this criterion alone may prove inaccurate.
   5. If you exercise not see this type of statement in the starting time issue of the journal that you look at, examine the remaining journals to encounter if this information is included. Sometimes publications will include this data in but a single issue a yr.
   6. Is information technology scholarly, using technical terminology? Does the article format approximate the following - abstract, literature review, methodology, results, conclusion, and references? Are the articles written by scholarly researchers in the field that the periodical pertains to? Is advertising non-existent, or kept to a minimum? Are at that place references listed in footnotes or bibliographies? If y'all 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 periodical is probably not peer-reviewed.
4. Find the official web site on the net, and check to see if it states that the periodical is peer-reviewed. Exist careful to use the official site (frequently located at the journal publisher's web site), and, fifty-fifty and then, information could potentially be "inaccurate."

Helpful hint!

If you accept used the previous 4 methods in trying to determine if an commodity is from a peer-reviewed journal and are yet unsure, speak to your instructor.

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

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