Library Guides: TCOM 101 Critical Media Literacy -- Moore: What does peer-reviewed mean?

Peer-reviewed articles

A peer-reviewed (or refereed) article has been read, evaluated, and approved for publication by scholars with expertise and knowledge related to the article’s contents. Peer-reviewing helps insure that articles provide accurate, verifiable, and valuable contributions to a field of study.

The peer-review process is anonymous, to prevent personal biases and favoritism from affecting the outcomes. Reviewers read manuscripts that omit the names of the author(s). When the reviewers’ feedback is given to the author(s), the reviewers’ names are omitted.

Editors of journals select reviewers who are experts in the subjects addressed in the article. Reviewers consider the clarity and validity of the research and whether it offers original and important knowledge to a particular field of study.

How do I know if an article is peer reviewed?

Step 1: Check the peer review status of the JOURNAL
- Most scholarly journal articles also have symbols next to their record in the library catalog.
- Search the journal title in Ulrichsweb Global Serials Directory.
- Look for a "referee shirt" symbol to the left of any journal title that is peer-reviewed.
Step 2: If the JOURNAL is peer reviewed, then assess the ARTICLE
- In general, book reviews, opinion pieces/editorials, and brief news articles are not peer-reviewed.
- Published peer-reviewed articles name their author(s) and provide details about how to verify the contents of the articles (such as footnotes and/or a list of “literature cited” or “references”). If the article does not name its author(s), it is not peer-reviewed.
- Some articles provide specific information about the peer-review process, such as dates of review and approval for publication.
- Some journals list peer-reviewed articles as “research” or “articles” in the table of contents to distinguish them from other materials like “news” or “book reviews”.