Peer review means that a board of scholarly reviewers in the subject area of the journal, review materials they publish for quality of research and adherence to editorial standards of the journal, before articles are accepted for publication. If you use materials from peer-reviewed publications they have been vetted by scholars in your field for quality and importance.
Now that you understand the importance of peer review, how do you know if your article is peer reviewed? Many library databases including those owned by EBSCO and ProQuest give you the option to limit your search results to only those results that are peer reviewed. Look for the option to limit your results either after the results are returned, in the left column, as a way to refine your search.
*Thank you to San Diego State University Library for permission to use the content on peer reviewed articles.
University of Washington Libraries. (2013, February 15). What is a scholarly journal article? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxgaOeQ10sQ
Anatomy of a Scholarly Article (Interactive tutorial)
This tutorial includes the first and last page of a scholarly journal article. Each section of the article is highlighted. Click on the highlighted section to learn tips on what to look for.
*Andreas Orphanides, North Carolina State University Libraries, 2009
A "scholarly article is written by an expert and is written for an audience of other experts, researchers and students. "Peer Reviewed" articles have gone through a review process and critiqued by peers in that subject area. Not all scholarly articles are peer reviewed.
*Northcentral University Library