How do I find only peer-reviewed articles for an assignment?

Answered By: Reference Staff

Last Updated: Jun 24, 2024 Views: 2197

To locate peer-reviewed articles:

You can use our library research databases (such as JEWL Search) to find scholarly/peer-reviewed journal articles. Most of our databases have a box (limiter) you can select so that every item found comes from a scholarly/peer-reviewed journal.

An example after using JEWL search:

Peer-reviewed means that the articles in these journals have gone through a review process by people who are experts in whatever field of study in which the journal specializes.

Scholarly/peer-reviewed journals are publications for researchers and professionals in their field.
Articles contain "technical" language understood by scholars and often report on recent research studies.

Before an article is accepted for publication in the journal, it has to be approved by these experts, but keep in mind:

Some items found in peer-reviewed journals are not peer-reviewed.
Items like letters to and from the editor, book reviews, and other opinion pieces are not peer-reviewed articles.

Scholarly/peer-reviewed articles usually:

begin with an abstract (a paragraph that gives a summary/synopsis of the article.)
have a lengthy reference list or footnotes citing sources used by the author(s).
will often be written by someone who is affiliated with a scholarly institution such as a university or by someone who has a degree or is highly respected in the field in which he/she is writing.

If the article describes a research study it will:

often contain charts and graphs illustrating the research
contain numerical data showing statistical methods used in the research.
have sections describing the research. i.e. "Introduction," "Method," "Results," "Discussion," and "Conclusion."

You can also look up a journal in Ulrichsweb.
The list of journals that are peer-reviewed/refereed have an icon that indicate this status: