How can I tell if an article or book is scholarly and/or peer reviewed?
- Articles – generally if an article is scholarly it will be peer reviewed. This means the article has gone through the scholarly peer review process. Scholarly peer reviewed articles tend to have a least a few of the following features:
- Published in peer reviewed journals – this means that newspapers, magazines, and other periodicals will not count, even if you found them through the library. Check the source of your article and make sure it is from a journal. Generally, the journal homepage or description will tell you whether it is peer reviewed or not.
- Citations – scholarly articles almost always have cited sources, either at the end of the article or in the footnotes (or both).
- Authors – scholarly journals will have authors listed and those authors will often (but not always) be affiliated with a college or university.
- This helpful video about finding peer reviewed articles will talk you through the process.
- Books – most of the time, scholarly books are either from a university or academic press or written by a professor in that particular field.
- Check where the book was published. Is it a university press?
- If it is not a university press, try looking the author up in Google Scholar or Google to find out if they are a professor somewhere.
- If you’re still not sure, Ask Us! Our librarians are happy to help you evaluate a source you’re considering.
