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How to...Find and Identify Peer Reviewed Journals

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Overview

How Scholarly?

Sources of information can range from being not scholarly, to very scholarly, to somewhere in the middle.  Each source will go somewhere on this scale:

0  |---------------------------------------------------5---------------------------------------------------|  10
Least Scholarly              
e.g., childrens' books
Mid-Level
Sources that are not as scholarly, but
still credible, include popular periodicals
such as magazines and newspapers.
            Most Scholarly
Scholarly sources typically
include academic journal articles.

Making Sure: Is This a Scholarly Article?

Sources that fall on the more scholarly end of the scale will typically have these characteristics:

Author Credentials

Most scholarly - expert with advanced degree (e.g., Ph.D., M.D., J.D.) in relevant subject

Audience

Most scholarly - other experts, professionals, or scholars in that subject area; vocabulary and concepts very advanced/technical

References

Most scholarly - extensive list of scholarly sources

Publisher

Most scholarly - a university, professional, or academic press; for example: Oxford University Press, American Psychological Association, Elsevier

Editing/Review

Most scholarly - the author's peers (experts in a subject area) critically evaluate all aspects of the work; this is called Peer Review.  It can also be called Refereed.

purpose

Most scholarly - to inform or educate about a specific topic or to describe a research study; should be objective (it may support a particular side, but with documentation and fair consideration of the other side)

  For more information, go to:  libguides.nvcc.edu/scholarly-info  

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Making Sure: Is This Journal Peer Reviewed?

To check whether or not a journal is peer reviewed, use Ulrichsweb Serials Directory:

  1. Enter the title of your journal (NOT the article title)
     
  2. Ulrichsweb refers to peer reviewed journals as refereed journals. If your journal is peer reviewed, you will see a little referee's jersey icon to the left that looks like this:

picture of Ulrichsweb referee shirt icon

Using Ulrichsweb to find out if a journal is peer reviewed