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When you find an article to use in your research, how do you determine if it is from a peer-reviewed journal?
Many professors will assign papers and research projects that require you to find and use only articles from
peer-reviewed journals.
There are, essentially, two ways to determine if an article is from a peer-reviewed journal.
First, when you search by topic in a library database, you often have the option to limit your results to just articles from
peer-reviewed journals.
When you start a search in a database, look for this option.
In EBSCOhost databases, such as Academic Search Premier, look for the words "Scholarly (Peer-Reviewed) Journals"
and place a checkmark next to this option.
In ProQuest databases, such as ProQuest Research Library,
look for the words “Peer Reviewed” under the main search box and place a checkmark next to this option.
Some library databases, like PubMed (a major medical literature database)
and ScienceDirect (a major science literature database)
only index peer-reviewed journals.
If you uncertain if a specific database you are using has an option to search only peer- reviewed journals
or that the database only indexes peer-reviewed journals, call the University Libraries and we can help you with that.
Sometimes you find a citation in the bibliography of an article,
or are given an article citation by a professor,
or you might even find an article through Google Scholar.
In this case, you cannot simply click a button to know if the article comes from a peer-reviewed journal.
To find out if the article you have is from a peer- reviewed journal, first jot down the title of journal.
Then use the database UlrichsWeb to search for the journal and find out if it is a peer-reviewed journal.
Ulrichsweb is a library database that DOES NOT index journal articles.
Instead, Ulrichsweb is a database that just gives you information about journals –
such as the publisher, when the journal started, if the journal is in English or another language, and more.
Ulrichsweb will also indicate whether or not a journal is peer-reviewed.
So, if I found this article, and I need to know if it came from a peer-reviewed journal,
I would take note of the journal name and look up the journal name in Ulrichsweb.
I find records for three titles that are a match to the Journal of Sex Research.
This is all the same journal – but each indicates a different format of the journal: print, online, and microform.
What I need to look at is the black and white symbol.
Remember that peer review is also sometimes called juried or refereed.
This symbol is supposed to look like a referee’s jersey, and if this symbol is present, I know that the journal is peer reviewed.
So whether searching in a library database for
articles or finding articles in other ways, I am always able to tell if the article comes from a peer-reviewed journal.