Finding Peer-Reviewed Articles

An article that is peer-reviewed has been critically assessed by scholars in the author's academic field before being accepted for publication. 

Characteristics of peer-reviewed articles include:

• Tone of the article is usually serious and scholarly.
• Uses terminology, jargon and the language of the discipline covered. The reader is assumed to have a similar scholarly background.
• Written by and for scholars or researchers in the specialty.
• Cites sources with footnotes and/or bibliographies.
• Purpose is to inform, report, or make available original research or experimentation to the rest of the scholarly world.
• Generally published by a professional organization.

Other terms used to describe peer-reviewed journals are scholarly, academic, and refereed. 

Please note that not all article types in a peer-reviewed journal have undergone the peer review process.  Book reviews, news items, and editorials are examples of this.  Most peer-reviewed articles are lengthy, so a one or two page article in a peer-reviewed journal has probably not been refereed. 

Many of Valencia's databases allow you to limit your search to peer-reviewed journals only.  Databases that allow you to do this include Academic Search Premier, OmniFile Full Text Mega, Infotrac OneFile, and Expanded Academic ASAP. 

For databases that do not allow you to limit to peer-reviewed journals, check to see if the article meets the above criteria.  Also, check if the journal has a web site.  Many times you can determine if a journal is peer-reviewed by reading the description or information for authors.  If you are unable to determine whether or not a journal is peer-reviewed, contact your instructor or a librarian. 

If you need any assistance, please visit us in room 140, Winter Park Campus, call us at 407-582-6814, or email us through www.askalibrarian.org.

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