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Research and Doctoral Studies Resources: Peer-Reviewed

What is peer-reviewed?

What is Peer-Review?

What is peer-review?

The peer-review process subjects an author's scholarly work, research, or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field (peers) and is considered necessary to ensure academic scientific quality. Articles, journals, reports, books, and other content can be considered peer review. Prior to publication, a material is submitted and must be reviewed by at least one expert in the field. The reviewer evaluates the research presented in the material. The scholarly work that passes the peer-review process is then published; the scholarly work that does not pass the peer review process will not be published as peer-reviewed. Dissertations are NOT peer-reviewed.

How do you I know if a journal is peer-reviewed ?

1. If you have a paper version of the journal you can look on the inside front cover to see if there is information regarding peer-review.

2. Many times an editorial board will be listed on the inside front cover

3. If you are using a database and only have an electronic version of an article you can still verify if the journal is peer-reviewed. 

  • Do a search for the journal and go to the homepage. Go to the about us section (or something similar) and you should find information about whether or not the journal is peer-reviewed.

4. Many of the CUC resources held in EBSCO are peer-reviewed and accessible to all CUC members.

Locating Peer Reviewed Content in EBSCO
  1. Go to the library's website
  2. Click Find Articles; use your Concordia Connect login to access (the website has been updated!)
  3. Select your databases, depending on your topic
  4. Put in your key terms and click on the big, green search box
  5. If you are looking for anything that is peer-reviewed, select "Peer Reviewed" on the left-hand side, under Limit To
    • If you are only looking for peer-reviewed journals, select the "Academic (peer reviewed) Journals" option

Tip: Experiment with your keywords and don't type out a sentence (it's not Google)

Remember: You can always request resources that are not full text!