What is a peer-reviewed article and why do I want it?
Articles come in different kinds of publications.
Some of the most important publication types are:
Newspapers
Magazines
Trade Journals
Scholarly/Academic Journals
The quality and purpose of information in these publication types are not all equal.
Newspapers and Magazines are written by paid journalists and are designed for easy reading.
Trade Journals are written by people in an industry.
Scholarly/Academic Journals are produced and published by university presses and scholarly groups.
Peer-reviewed articles published in an academic journal are considered the gold standard of tested information.
Peer-reviewed articles are subjected to critiques by multiple experts in a field before being published.
The peer-review and publication process often takes well over one year, so it might be hard to find a peer-reviewed article for a currently emerging topic.
However, your instructors and professors often demand peer-reviewed articles for your papers because this is the most scrutinized information available.
Recommended Databases for Finding Peer Reviewed Articles
The databases below cover a vast range of topics, and you can select for peer-reviewed content.
Very easy to use. Slide the bar to adjust for date range. Pick peer reviewed if you want! If you find a good article, open up the "Subject Headings" on lower left and click to find more such articles.
The landing page here will say ABI Inform Global. In the upper left hand corner, by the magnifying glass, click where it says "1 database", and then, select ALL the databases that appear. Below the search boxes where you enter your keyewords, click the box for peer-reviewed.