What is a Peer Review Process?
Scholarly or Peer-reviewed: How can you tell?
Scholarly or Academic Articles | Written by researchers, and may/may not be reviewed by experts in the same field |
Peer-reviewed or Refereed Articles | Written by researchers, and always reviewed by experts in the same field before they are accepted |
As a rule, empirical research articles are always peer-reviewed. They report qualitative or quantitative research based on observations or experiments in a particular field of study. In addition, they contain:
Discipline specific databases such as PsycINFO or ERIC or Medline will further allow you to limit your search to a particular type of publication or content.
Librarian's Tip:
Use advanced search mode when looking for empirical research articles. Use search terms such as methodology, research studies, empirical research, empirical studies, etc. to find relevant results.
Popular Magazines: They are generally heavily illustrated and have lots of advertisements. Articles are written by staff and cover current and general interest topics written in easy to read language. There is also no external review process. Unlike academic articles, there is no reference lists, however, sometimes sources may be identified in the article text (e.g., "Jane Doe, a teacher at the school, reports that...")
Trade Magazines: A trade magazine, as the name suggests, is geared towards a specific industry or trade. Articles in a trade magazine are short and on industry or business related topics and trends. The editorial staff is responsible for the accuracy of information. You will find technical reports and technology reviews in a trade magazine.
Newspaper articles report current information and opinions on issues, popular topics, and trends. They are usually short. Use newspapers to find information about international, national, and local events. Different types of articles in newspapers have different purposes.
For example:
These videos will tell you more about scholarly-peer reviewed articles.
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