Peer review
What is a peer review article?
- Presents research
- The structure of the text often follow the IMRAD structure (see below)
- Written by researchers
- Peer reviewed by other researchers within the field (see below)
- Published by an academic publisher or a university
Peer review
Below you can learn more about the peer review process. (Film by NC State University)
IMRAD
Peer review articles are often written in an IMRAD format, which means the following:
- I - Introduction
- M - Methods
- R - Results
- And
- D - Discussion
Peer review articles often have an abstract as well, which summarizes the content of the article. Usually, there is also a reference list at the end of the article. Example from Psychology, Crime & Law, Vol. 15, No. 8, October 2009, 743758
Limit to peer review articles in databases
Some databases have the option to limit the search to peer review journals. Look for a box saying "Peer review" and tick it after you've run your search.
Evaluating sources
To help you decide if a source is appropriate four your essay you can ask yourself the following questions:
- Who is the author? Is the author affiliated with a university or other research institution?
- Does the text cite other scholarly materials?
- Is the content relevant to your research question? Can you use the text to support your own claims?
- Has the text been refereed/peer reviewed? Remember, usually only articles published in scholarly journals have been peer reviewed. In literary research it is common to publish your findings in other formats, such as dissertations, books or book chapters. Just because a source is not peer review it does not mean that it is not scholarly.
More on evaluating sources, peer review and how to read a scholarly article
Film by UTC Library