How to Know if It Is Peer Reviewed

How to recognize peer-reviewed (refereed) journals

In many cases professors volition require that students utilize articles from "peer-reviewed" journals. Sometimes the phrases "refereed journals" or "scholarly journals" are used to describe the same type of journals. But what are peer-reviewed (or refereed or scholarly) periodical manufactures, and why practise faculty require their utilize?

3 categories of information resources:

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

Helpful hint!

Not all information in a peer-reviewed journal is really refereed, or reviewed. For example, editorials, letters to the editor, book reviews, and other types of data don't count every bit articles, and may not be accustomed by your professor.

How practice you determine whether an article qualifies equally existence a peer-reviewed journal commodity?

Start, you lot need to exist able to identify which journals are peer-reviewed. There are more often than not 4 methods for doing this

1. Limiting a database search to peer-reviewed journals merely.
   Some databases allow y'all to limit searches for articles to peer reviewed journals only. For example, Bookish Search Consummate has this feature on the initial search screen - click on the pertinent box to limit the search. In some databases you may accept to go to an "advanced" or "expert" search screen to practice this. Call back, many databases do not allow you to limit your search in this mode.
2. Checking in the database Ulrichsweb.com to make up one's mind if the journal is indicated as being peer-reviewed.
   If you cannot limit your initial search to peer-reviewed journals, you volition need to check to run across if the source of an article is a peer-reviewed journal. This can be done by searching the database Ulrichsweb.com. Go to the alphabetical listing of databases and click on the "U". Select Ulrichsweb.com. It helps to type in the exact championship of the source journal including any initial A, AN, or THE in the title. If y'all don't find the periodical you are interested in, y'all may desire to utilize Method 3 below. If your journal title IS displayed, check to meet if the journal is indicated as being refereed by having the symbol side by side to the title.
3. Examining the publication to see if information technology is peer-reviewed.
   If past using the first ii methods you lot were unable to identify if a journal (and an commodity therein) is peer-reviewed, you may then need to examine the journal physically or look at boosted pages of the journal online to determine if it is peer-reviewed. This method is not e'er successful with resources available only online. The following steps are suggested:
   1. Locate the journal in the Library or online, then identify the almost electric current entire year's issues.
   2. Locate the masthead of the publication. This oft consists of a box towards either the front or the end of the periodical, and contains publication data such every bit the editors of the journal, the publisher, the place of publication, the subscription price and similar data.
   3. Does the periodical say that information technology is peer-reviewed? If and so, you're done! If not, motion on to step d.
   4. Cheque in and around the masthead to locate the method for submitting articles to the publication.  If you find data similar to "to submit articles, ship 3 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 commodity to the journal's reviewers. This may not always be the case, so relying upon this criterion solitary may prove inaccurate.
   5. If yous do non see this type of statement in the first result of the journal that you look at, examine the remaining journals to see if this information is included. Sometimes publications will include this data in simply a single issue a year.
   6. Is it scholarly, using technical terminology? Does the article format approximate the following - abstract, literature review, methodology, results, decision, and references? Are the manufactures written by scholarly researchers in the field that the periodical pertains to? Is advertising not-real, 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 exist strengthened by having met the previous criterion of a multiple-copies submission requirement. If you answered these questions no, the journal is probably non peer-reviewed.
4. Find the official web site on the internet, and check to see if it states that the journal is peer-reviewed. Be careful to use the official site (oftentimes located at the journal publisher's spider web site), and, even then, information could potentially be "inaccurate."

Helpful hint!

If you lot have used the previous four methods in trying to determine if an article is from a peer-reviewed journal and are still unsure, speak to your teacher.

keoghrundepress.blogspot.com

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

Share this post