How to Tell if Something Is Peer Reviewed on Google Scholar

How to recognize peer-reviewed (refereed) journals

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

3 categories of data resources:

• Newspapers and magazines containing news - Articles are written by reporters who may or may not exist experts in the field of the article. Consequently, manufactures may contain incorrect information.
• Journals containing articles written by academics and/or professionals — Although the manufactures are written by "experts," whatever particular "practiced" may have some ideas that are really "out there!"
• Peer-reviewed (refereed or scholarly) journals - Manufactures are written by experts and are reviewed by several other experts in the field before the article is published in the periodical in club to ensure the article's quality. (The commodity is more likely to be scientifically valid, reach reasonable conclusions, etc.) In virtually cases the reviewers practice not know who the author 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, volume reviews, and other types of information don't count as articles, and may not be accepted past your professor.

How practise you determine whether an article qualifies equally being a peer-reviewed journal article?

First, you need to be able to identify which journals are peer-reviewed. There are generally four methods for doing this

1. Limiting a database search to peer-reviewed journals only.
   Some databases allow y'all to limit searches for articles to peer reviewed journals only. For instance, Academic Search Complete 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 do not allow you to limit your search in this manner.
2. Checking in the database Ulrichsweb.com to decide if the periodical is indicated as being peer-reviewed.
   If you cannot limit your initial search to peer-reviewed journals, you will need to check to see if the source of an article is a peer-reviewed journal. This can be done past searching the database Ulrichsweb.com. Go to the alphabetical listing of databases and click on the "U". Select Ulrichsweb.com. It helps to type in the exact title of the source journal including any initial A, AN, or THE in the title. If you don't find the periodical y'all are interested in, yous may desire to utilize Method 3 below. If your journal title IS displayed, check to see if the periodical is indicated equally being refereed by having the symbol next to the championship.
3. Examining the publication to see if it is peer-reviewed.
   If by using the beginning ii methods yous were unable to place if a journal (and an article therein) is peer-reviewed, y'all may then need to examine the periodical physically or look at additional pages of the journal online to decide if it is peer-reviewed. This method is non always successful with resources available but online. The post-obit steps are suggested:
   1. Locate the journal in the Library or online, then identify the most current entire year's issues.
   2. Locate the masthead of the publication. This often consists of a box towards either the forepart or the end of the periodical, and contains publication information such as the editors of the journal, the publisher, the place of publication, the subscription cost and similar data.
   3. Does the periodical say that it is peer-reviewed? If then, you're done! If non, move on to step d.
   4. Check in and around the masthead to locate the method for submitting articles to the publication.  If yous detect data like to "to submit articles, ship three copies…", the periodical is probably peer-reviewed. In this case, you are inferring that the publication is then going to send the multiple copies of the article to the periodical'south reviewers. This may not ever be the case, so relying upon this benchmark alone may show inaccurate.
   5. If you do non come across this blazon of argument in the get-go upshot of the periodical that you look at, examine the remaining journals to encounter if this information is included. Sometimes publications will include this data in only a single outcome a year.
   6. Is it scholarly, using technical terminology? Does the article format gauge the post-obit - abstract, literature review, methodology, results, conclusion, and references? Are the articles written by scholarly researchers in the field that the periodical pertains to? Is advertising 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 past having met the previous benchmark of a multiple-copies submission requirement. If you answered these questions no, the periodical is probably not peer-reviewed.
4. Find the official web site on the internet, and cheque to see if it states that the journal is peer-reviewed. Be careful to apply the official site (often located at the journal publisher's web site), and, even then, information could potentially exist "inaccurate."

Helpful hint!

If yous have used the previous four methods in trying to determine if an commodity is from a peer-reviewed periodical 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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