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How do I Know if the Article is Peer Reviewed?
Text Description of Identifying a Scholarly/Peer Reviewed Journal Article Infographic
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Licensed under CC BY-NC | Excludes website content where the Library is not the copyright owner.![Short description: Infographic for identifying a scholarly/peer reviewed journal article [full text alternative is below this image]. Long description: Identifying a scholarly/peer reviewed journal article Many assignments will ask you to include scholarly articles (sometimes called academic articles or peer reviewed articles) as sources. So being able to identify them is important. 1. The Peer Review Limiter The library’s main search and most of the library databases will let you limit to peer reviewed/academic/scholarly articles. While this kind of limiter isn’t perfect, it will start you in the right direction 2. Identifying Traits in the Article Itself Look for these characteristics in the article - if your article doesn’t match, you probably don’t have a scholarly/peer reviewed article. For example, a 3 page article with only 2 sources likely isn’t peer reviewed, even if it is written by someone at a university. a) There will be lots of sources, often in a references list at the end of the article or in footnotes b) The author(s) often have degrees (PhD, Master’s) and often work at academic institutions or similar places (think tanks, research institutes, etc.) c) The articles tend to be longer (10-30 pages is common) d) Many articles will be broken into sections such as background/literature review, methodology, findings, etc. 3. Journal About Page A journal should say on its website if it’s peer reviewed (check the About the Journal section or the Author Guidelines for mention of peer review). 4. Ulrichsweb - Journal Information Database This database can help you confirm if a journal (which the article is published in) is peer reviewed. Find Ulrichsweb in our database list and then search for the journal (not the article) name. If you see the referee shirt symbol, that means it’s a peer reviewed journal. 5. Get Help from the Library Contact the library for help identifying if your article is peer reviewed or not. Visit our library help desk or chat with us: library.macewan.ca/help](https://d1qywhc7l90rsa.cloudfront.net/accounts/80700/images/Identifying_a_scholarlypeer-reviewed_journal_article.png)