My professor says I have to use a peer-reviewed article for my paper. How do I find one?
Is "peer-reviewed" the same thing as "scholarly"?
Answer
A peer-reviewed journal contains articles that have been reviewed by a group of experts before publication. Peer-reviewed journals are sometimes called scholarly or refereed journals.
Most scholarly articles have the following traits:
- Written by experts; authors hold a doctorate in the field about which they are writing
- Provide references (footnotes and/or works cited or bibliography)
- Formal or technical writing style
- Published by a university or professional association (ex. Journal of the American Medical Association)
Peer-reviewed articles are not often found for free on the web. Instead, they can be found by using Library Databases. Most databases allow you to limit your searches to scholarly articles. Please see the Kares Library YouTube Channel for tips on searching library databases.
You can also use the Kares Library's Search It All box to find scholarly articles. Please see the FAQ How do I find peer reviewed resources in the Kares Library Search it All?