How to Tell if Website Is Peer Reviewed

How to recognize peer-reviewed (refereed) journals

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

Three categories of information resources:

• Newspapers and magazines containing news - Manufactures are written by reporters who may or may not be experts in the field of the commodity. Consequently, articles may contain incorrect information.
• Journals containing manufactures written by academics and/or professionals — Although the articles are written by "experts," whatever particular "proficient" may have some ideas that are actually "out there!"
• Peer-reviewed (refereed or scholarly) journals - Articles are written by experts and are reviewed by several other experts in the field earlier the article is published in the journal in order to ensure the article's quality. (The article is more than probable to be scientifically valid, reach reasonable conclusions, etc.) In near cases the reviewers practise non 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 as manufactures, and may not exist accepted past your professor.

How do y'all determine whether an article qualifies as being a peer-reviewed journal article?

First, yous need to be able to identify which journals are peer-reviewed. There are mostly 4 methods for doing this

1. Limiting a database search to peer-reviewed journals merely.
   Some databases allow you to limit searches for articles to peer reviewed journals merely. For example, Academic Search Consummate has this feature on the initial search screen - click on the pertinent box to limit the search. In some databases y'all may have to go to an "advanced" or "proficient" search screen to do this. Remember, many databases practise not allow you to limit your search in this way.
2. Checking in the database Ulrichsweb.com to make up one's mind if the journal is indicated as beingness peer-reviewed.
   If you cannot limit your initial search to peer-reviewed journals, y'all will need to cheque to meet if the source of an article is a peer-reviewed periodical. This can be done by searching the database Ulrichsweb.com. Get 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 periodical including any initial A, AN, or THE in the title. If you don't find the journal yous are interested in, you may want to utilise Method 3 below. If your periodical title IS displayed, bank check to meet if the journal is indicated as beingness refereed past having the symbol adjacent to the title.
3. Examining the publication to see if it is peer-reviewed.
   If by using the showtime two methods you were unable to identify if a periodical (and an article 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 always successful with resources available only online. The following steps are suggested:
   1. Locate the journal in the Library or online, then place the almost current entire year's issues.
   2. Locate the masthead of the publication. This oftentimes consists of a box towards either the front or the terminate of the journal, and contains publication information such equally the editors of the periodical, the publisher, the place of publication, the subscription cost and similar data.
   3. Does the journal say that it is peer-reviewed? If so, y'all're done! If non, movement on to step d.
   4. Cheque in and around the masthead to locate the method for submitting articles to the publication.  If you find information similar to "to submit articles, ship three copies…", the journal is probably peer-reviewed. In this example, yous are inferring that the publication is then going to transport the multiple copies of the article to the journal'southward reviewers. This may non e'er exist the case, so relying upon this criterion alone may prove inaccurate.
   5. If you do not see this type of statement in the first upshot of the periodical that you lot await at, examine the remaining journals to run across if this data is included. Sometimes publications will include this information in only a single issue a year.
   6. Is information technology scholarly, using technical terminology? Does the article format guess the following - abstract, literature review, methodology, results, conclusion, and references? Are the articles written by scholarly researchers in the field that the periodical pertains to? Is ad non-real, or kept to a minimum? Are there references listed in footnotes or bibliographies? If yous answered yep 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 lot answered these questions no, the journal is probably not peer-reviewed.
4. Find the official web site on the internet, and check to run into if it states that the journal is peer-reviewed. Be conscientious to use the official site (often located at the journal publisher'due south web site), and, even then, information could potentially exist "inaccurate."

Helpful hint!

If you have used the previous 4 methods in trying to decide if an article is from a peer-reviewed journal and are still unsure, speak to your instructor.

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

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