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Criminal Justice Related Databases

Social Work and Psychology Related Databases

Cross-discipline databases

What are Peer Reviewed Articles?

Peer-reviewed articles (also know as refereed) go through a process where they are analyzed by experts in a field before publication.

  • articles are examined to evaluate the quality of research
  • reviewers decide if the article adds to the content of the field

Articles can be scholarly (written and published for an academic audience), yet not go through the peer-review process.

How do I know if an article is peer reviewed?

Step 1:  Check the peer review status of the JOURNAL.

  • Search for your title in Ulrichsweb,a database of information about journals and magazines.
  • When you find your journal, look for a "referee shirt" symbol.  The symbol will appear next to any journal title that is peer reviewed and/or refereed (interchangeable terms).

Step 2:  If the JOURNAL is peer reviewed, then assess the ARTICLE.

  • Is it a full research article?  Then you can be confident that your article is peer reviewed.
  • If your article is a short news brief, an editorial, a letter to the editor, or a re-print of a conference proceeding, it is generally not peer reviewed.