How do articles get peer reviewed? What role does peer review play in scholarly research and publication? This video will explain.
This video is published under a Creative Commons 3.0 BY-NC-SA US license.
Peer reviewed materials are publications reviewed by "experts in the field" or referees prior to the publication of the material. After reading and evaluating the material, the referee informs the publisher if the document should be published or if any changes should be made prior to publication. Peer reviewed materials are also referred to as Refereed.
Peer reviewed materials are significant to the research and the literature of most academic fields because they assure readers that the information conveyed is reliable and timely.
Non-refereed materials such as trade journals or magazines use less rigorous standards of screening prior to publication. In some publications, each article may be only screened by the publication's editor. While knowledgeable, no editor can be an authority on all the subject matter printed in a journal.
The term "scholarly materials" is often used to describe refereed materials, but this term is not exclusive to refereed material. Non-refereed materials may not by scrutinized as intensely as refereed materials, but they can still be considered scholarly. Also, trade journals and magazines can be valuable sources of information in their own right, depending on what you are looking for.
Articles in peer-reviewed or scholarly journals almost always report original research. The article will usually have these elements:
Not all items that appear in peer reviewed journals are actually peer reviewed. Articles that require a certain level of scholarly effort such as research studies, experiments and literature reviews are peer reviewed. Items appearing in peer reviewed journals that are not peer reviewed are;
Keep that in mind when you limit your search to peer review. The results list may contain some of the above items that are not peer reviewed. Make sure you check what type of item you are looking at before you assume it is peer reviewed simply because it appears in a peer reviewed journal.
