How can I tell if an article is scholarly or peer-reviewed?
Answer
Peer-reviewed articles are scholarly or academic articles that have been evaluated by experts in the discipline. Peer review is a rigorous, complicated process. Watch Peer Review in 3 Minutes from North Carolina State University Libraries to learn more.
One way to know that an article is scholarly or peer-reviewed is if the database gives a visual indication as to whether an article is scholarly. For example, OneSearch has a indicator underneath the article's citation information indicating whether or not the article was peer-reviewed
Sometimes, however, you might not have the nifty Indicator. If this is the case, review the questions below to identify whether or not the article was peer-reviewed.
- Who are the authors? Generally researchers or scholars in the academic discipline and/or field.
- How is it written? Scholarly articles contain vocabulary that is technical and specialized according to discipline; audience is generally scholarly peers in that field of study.
- What does it look like? Scholarly articles may include quantitative data in the form of graphs, charts, and tables supporting research; delineated sections: abstract, literature review, methodology, results, conclusion, and bibliography.
- How are the sources cited? Scholarly articles contain an extensive bibliography and footnotes which are formatted according to research discipline (e.g. MLA, APA, CMoS).
If you aren't sure, or have more questions, Ask a Librarian!