Guide to Peer Reviewed Journals
What is a Peer Reviewed Journal? | How to Find Out if it's Peer Reviewed | Limiting to Peer Review | Magazines vs. Journals
What is a Peer Reviewed Journal?
In a peer reviewed journal (also known as refereed) drafts of articles are critically assessed by other scholars in the author's field or specialty before they are accepted for publication.
Peer review is the accepted method for ensuring that information is of the highest quality.
Just because a journal is peer reviewed does not guarantee that all articles in it are included in the peer review process. Some article types, such as news items, editorials and book and article reviews, may not be peer reviewed.
Learn more:
- Identifying Peer-Reviewed/Refereed Journals (Walden University)
- What is a Peer-Reviewed Journal? (University of Illinois/Urbana - Champaign)
How Do I Find Out if a Journal is Peer Reviewed?
There is no one place that lists all peer reviewed journals. The most authoritative source to consult is Ulrich's International Periodical Directory. To use Ulrich's:
- Click on Ulrich's International Periodical Directory
- Enter your NAU E-mail Account login and password if requested. If you have problems or need more information, see Connecting to NAU Resources.
- Search by title, keyword or subject for the journal(s) you want.
- Look for the "refereed" icon
next to the journal title.
If Ulrich's identifies a journal as being refereed, only full-length articles in that journal will be peer reviewed. Short content such as editorials, commentaries, or review (of a book or other article, for example) are not peer reviewed.
If you are unsure if an article or journal is peer reviewed, contact Ask a Librarian for further assistance.
Learn more:
- Help Topic: Peer Reviewed (Refereed) Journals (Cline Library)
Limiting to Peer Review in Databases
Many of the library's journals are included in databases which have a filter for "Peer Reviewed" or “Refereed.” An example is Academic Search Premier. There is a "peer reviewed" check box to limit search results to peer reivewed articles.
You can check the Help screens of databases to find out if limiting by peer review is available and how to use this function.
Learn More:
- Finding Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles (University of South Florida)
- Locating Articles in Scholarly Journals (Elizabethtown Community and Technical College Library)
- Help- Finding Peer Reviewed Journal Articles (Cal State Pomona Libraries)
What is a Magazine? What is a Journal?
| Magazines | Journals |
|---|---|
| Examples: Time, Life, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Sports Illustrated, Fortune, Popular Science | Examples: Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal of the American Medical Association, American Sociological Review, Journal of Psychology |
| Audience: General public to knowledgeable layperson | Audience: Scholars, specialists, and students |
| Written by: Professional journalists; not necessarily specialists in the field; poets and writers of fiction, essayists | Written by: Specialists in the field; usually scholars with PhDs. |
| Timeliness: More current than books | Timeliness: More current than books |
| Content: Popular topics; current affairs; general discussion; editorial opinion; graphics; photographs; advertisements; usually no bibliography or list of sources | Content: Research results, frequently theoretical in nature; detailed examination; statistical analysis; graphics; bibliography usually included |
| Primary Source: First hand accounts; original reporting; etc. | Primary Source: Reports of original research; case studies; clinical studies; etc. |
| Slant: May reflect the editorial bias / slant of the magazine | Slant: Supposed to present objective/neutral viewpoint; may be difficult to comprehend because of technical language or jargon; often sponsored by professional associations |
Magazines are often sold on the newsstand and in many—but not all—cases may have a more graphic look with more advertising and photographs and slicker paper. |
Journals are often produced by the academic community; sometimes they are a benefit of membership to a society or organization. In many—but not all—cases journals may have a more scholarly appearance. |
Learn More:
- What is a Peer Reviewed Journal? (Valinor.ca)
- Scholarly Journals and Research Studies (Morris Library, University of Southern Illinois at Carbondale; pdf requires Acrobat Reader)
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This page last modified
September 6, 2007
