how to tell if a research article is peer reviewed

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Peer Reviewed Articles: What Are They?

How to Tell if a Journal Article is Peer Reviewed
Review Articles
Types of Literature Sources, (Grey Literature)
What are Evidence Based Reviews?

Peer Reviewed?

How do you determine whether an article qualifies as being a peer-reviewed journal article?

First, you need to be able to identify which journals are peer-reviewed. There are generally four methods for doing this

Limiting a database search to peer-reviewed journals only. You can do this in the Article Quick Search tab in the Library's home page.
Some databases allow you to limit searches for articles to peer reviewed journals only.
If you cannot limit your initial search to peer-reviewed journals, you will need to check if the individual journal where the article was published is a peer-reviewed journal. You may want to utilize Method 3 below.
Examining the publication to see if it is peer-reviewed.

If the first two methods described above did not identify the journal,(and the article), as peer-reviewed, you 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 not always successful with resources available only online. Try the following steps:

Locate the journal in the Library or online, then identify the most current entire year’s issues.
Locate the masthead of the publication. This usually consists of a box towards either the front or the end of the periodical, and contains publication information such as the editors of the journal, the publisher, the place of publication, the subscription cost and similar information. It is way easier to find in a print copy of the journal
Does the journal say that it is peer-reviewed? If so, you’re done. If not, search farther within the journal's website.
Check 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 three copies…”, the journal is probably peer-reviewed . In this case, you are inferring that the publication is then going to send the multiple copies of the article to the journal’s reviewers. This may not always be the case, so relying upon this information alone may not be foolproof.
If you do not see this type of statement in the first issue of the journal that you look at, examine the remaining issues to see if this information is included. Sometimes publications will include this information in only a single issue a year.
Is it scholarly, using technical terminology? Is the article format similar to the following - abstract, literature review, methodology, results, conclusion, and references? Are the articles written by scholarly researchers in the field? Is advertising non-existent, or kept to a minimum? Are there references listed in footnotes or bibliographies? If you 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 journal is probably not peer-reviewed.
Find the journal web site on the internet, (not via library databases), and see if it states that the journal is peer-reviewed. Check the site URL to be sure it is the homepage of the journal or of the publisher of the journal.

Adapted from "How to Recognize Peer Reviewed Journals" , Angelo State University

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FAQ: How do I know if my articles are scholarly (peer-reviewed)?

How to identify a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal article, what are scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles.

Scholarly articles are those that are reviewed by multiple experts from their related field(s) and then published in academic journals. There are academic journals for every subject area. The primary purpose of scholarly journals is to represent and disseminate research and scholarly discussions among scholars (faculty, researchers, students) within, and across, different academic disciplines.

Scholarly peer-reviewed journal articles can be identified by the following characteristics:

Author(s): They are typically written by professors, researchers, or other scholars who specialize in the field and are often identified by the academic institution at which they work.
Purpose : They are published by professional associations, university publishers or other academic publishers to report research results or discuss ongoing research in detail.
Language: They are highly specialized and may use technical language.
Layout: They will cite their sources and include footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical citations and/or a list of bibliographic references.
Content : They may include graphs and tables and they undergo a peer review process before publication.

Helpful tips for finding scholarly articles:

Detail of Academic Search Complete search results, showing the filter for "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals"

What is a Scholarly Journal Article?

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Last Updated: Oct 14, 2024 9:33 AM
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How to know if an article is peer reviewed [6 key features]

how to tell if a research article is peer reviewed

Features of a peer reviewed article

How to find peer reviewed articles, frequently asked questions about peer reviewed articles, related articles.

A peer reviewed article refers to a work that has been thoroughly assessed, and based on its quality, has been accepted for publication in a scholarly journal. The aim of peer reviewing is to publish articles that meet the standards established in each field. This way, peer reviewed articles that are published can be taken as models of research practices.

A peer reviewed article can be recognized by the following features:

It is published in a scholarly journal.
It has a serious and academic tone.
It features an abstract at the beginning.
It is divided by headings into introduction, literature review or background, discussion, and conclusion.
It includes in-text citations, and a bibliography listing accurately all references.
Its authors are affiliated with a research institute or university.

There are many ways in which you can find peer reviewed articles, for instance:

Check the journal's features and 'About' section. This part should state if the articles published in the journal are peer reviewed, and the type of reviewing they perform.
Consult a database with peer reviewed journals, such as Web of Science Master Journal List , PubMed , Scopus , Google Scholar , etc. Specify in the advanced search settings that you are looking for peer reviewed journals only.
Consult your library's database, and specify in the search settings that you are looking for peer reviewed journals only.

➡️ How to identify if a source is scholarly

➡️ What are credible sources?

A peer reviewed article refers to a work that has been thoroughly assessed, and based on its quality has been accepted to be published in a scholarly journal.

Once an article has been submitted for publication to a peer reviewed journal, the journal assigns the article to an expert in the field, who is considered the “peer”.

The easiest way to find a peer reviewed article is to narrow down the search in the "Advanced search" option. Then, mark the box that says "peer reviewed".

Consult a database with peer reviewed journals, such as Web of Science Master Journal List , PubMed , Scopus , etc.

There are many views on peer reviewed articles. Take a look at Peer Review in Scientific Publications: Benefits, Critiques, & A Survival Guide for more insight on this topic.

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Peer Review and Primary Literature: An Introduction: Is it Primary Research? How Do I Know?

Scholarly Journal vs. Magazine
Peer Review: What is it?
Finding Peer-Reviewed Articles
Primary Journal Literature
Is it Primary Research? How Do I Know?

Components of a Primary Research Study

As indicated on a previous page, Peer-Reviewed Journals also include non -primary content. Simply limiting your search results in a database to "peer-reviewed" will not retrieve a list of only primary research studies.

Learn to recognize the parts of a primary research study. Terminology will vary slightly from discipline to discipline and from journal to journal. However, there are common components to most research studies.

When you run a search, find a promising article in your results list and then look at the record for that item (usually by clicking on the title). The full database record for an item usually includes an abstract or summary--sometimes prepared by the journal or database, but often written by the author(s) themselves. This will usually give a clear indication of whether the article is a primary study. For example, here is a full database record from a search for family violence and support in SocINDEX with Full Text :

Although the abstract often tells the story, you will need to read the article to know for sure. Besides scanning the Abstract or Summary, look for the following components: (I am only capturing small article segments for illustration.)

Look for the words METHOD or METHODOLOGY . The authors should explain how they conducted their research.

NOTE: Different Journals and Disciplines will use different terms to mean similar things. If instead of " Method " or " Methodology " you see a heading that says " Research Design " or " Data Collection ," you have a similar indicator that the scholar-authors have done original research.

Look for the section called RESULTS . This details what the author(s) found out after conducting their research.

Charts , Tables , Graphs , Maps and other displays help to summarize and present the findings of the research.

A Discussion indicates the significance of findings, acknowledges limitations of the research study, and suggests further research.

References , a Bibliography or List of Works Cited indicates a literature review and shows other studies and works that were consulted. USE THIS PART OF THE STUDY! If you find one or two good recent studies, you can identify some important earlier studies simply by going through the bibliographies of those articles.

A FINAL NOTE: If you are ever unclear about whether a particular article is appropriate to use in your paper, it is best to show that article to your professor and discuss it with them. The professor is the final judge since they will be assigning your grade.

Subject Guide

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Last Updated: Oct 1, 2024 2:02 PM
URL: https://suffolk.libguides.com/PeerandPrimary

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Scholarly Articles: How can I tell?

Journal Information
Literature Review
Author and affiliation
Introduction
Specialized Vocabulary
Methodology
Research sponsors

What is peer review?

Identifying if a journal is peer-reviewed, using the database to identify a peer-reviewed journal, identifying if a journal is peer-reviewed with ulrichsweb.

Peer review refers to the process where researchers submit a paper they have written to a journal. The journal editor then sends the article to the author's peers (researchers and scholars) who are in the same discipline for review. The reviewers determine if the article should be published based on the quality of the research, including the validity of the data, the conclusions the authors' draw and the originality of the research. This process is important because it validates the research and gives it a sort of "seal of approval" from others in the research community.

If you have a print edition of a journal, you can often determine if the journal is peer-reviewed. Print journals usually contain instructions for authors, including the journal's peer review policy, inside the front or back covers or in a page near the end of the issue.

However, one of the best places to find out if a journal is peer-reviewed is to go to the journal website. Most publishers have a website for a journal that tells you about the journal, how authors can submit an article, and what the process is for getting published.

On the journal website, look for the link that says information for authors, instructions for authors, submitting an article or something similar.

Another place to find out if the journal is peer-reviewed is to use one of the online databases.

For example, if you know that articles from your journal appear in the Academic Search Premier database, you can search for the journal in the database and learn more about it.

Go to Academic Search Premier and click on Publications at the top of the screen.

Enter the name of the journal and click browse. If the journal is included in the database, you will see it in the list of results.

This will take you to the journal information. At the bottom, you can see that this journal is peer-reviewed.

Academic Search Premiere does not include all journals so the one you are looking for may not be listed here. You can also try AcademicOneFile and browse for the publication.

Another way to determine a journal's peer review status is with Ulrichsweb, which uses the term "refereed". Most larger public and academic libraries have access. Members of the OSU community can access Ulrichsweb using the link below.