If an article is peer reviewed, it was reviewed by scholars who are experts in related academic or professional fields before it was published. Those scholars assessed the quality of the article's research, as well as its overall contribution to the literature in their field.
When we talk about peer-reviewed journals, we're referring to journals that use a peer-review process.
Related terms you might hear include:
National University Library System. (2018). "Find Articles: How to Find Scholarly/Peer-Reviewed Articles". Retrieved from: http://nu.libguides.com/articles/PR.
Here's how it typically works:
Peer review serves as a critical checkpoint in the academic publishing process, helping to ensure that only high-quality, rigorously researched, and credible scholarly work is disseminated to the academic community and the public. It helps to uphold standards of academic integrity, accuracy, and reliability.
The easiest way to find out if a journal is peer-reviewed is to search for the title in a serials directory like UlrichsWeb:
1. Type the name of the journal in the search bar and click the search button. NOTE: you need to use the full name of the journal, not an abbreviation.
2. Locate the journal in the results list. You may see multiple entries for one journal because Ulrichs lists print, electronic, and international version separately.
3. Look for a black-and-white referee logo () next to the title - this means the journal is peer-reviewed.
Determining whether an article has been peer-reviewed without a service like Ulrichs typically involves a few steps:
Remember that while these methods can help you determine whether an article has undergone peer review, it's always good practice to critically evaluate the content of the article regardless of its peer-review status.
Even if an article was published in a peer-reviewed journal, it may not necessarily be peer-reviewed itself; for example, a commentary article may undergo editorial review instead, meaning it was only reviewed by the journal editor.
There are some clues you can look for to help you identify if an article is peer-reviewed:
If an article published in a verified peer-reviewed journal includes these elements, it is most likely a peer-reviewed article.
Good news! Most of the journals in Medline and PubMed are peer reviewed. Generally speaking, if you find a journal citation in Medline and PubMed you should be just fine. However, there is no way to limit your results within PubMed or the Medline EBSCO interface to knock out the few publications that are not considered refereed titles.
However, EBSCO (a third-party vendor) does provide a list of all titles within Medline and lets you see which titles are considered peer reviewed. You can check if your journal is OK - see the "Peer Review" tab in the report below to see the very small list of titles that don't make the cut.
In CINAHL and PsycINFO, there is a "Peer Reviewed" box in the advanced search, which allows you to limit your search results to those that have been identified as peer reviewed.