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BIOL 214

Identifying Peer-Reviewed Articles

Peer-reviewed articles are written by academic experts and are reviewed by several academic experts before they are published. 

A peer-reviewed journal is a periodical where the quality of the articles is maintained through a review process conducted by experts prior to publication. Articles submitted to a refereed or peer-reviewed journal are examined by one or more people with expertise in the field with which the article deals. This process gives the scholarly community some assurance that the information in the article is valid and credible. Some disciplines require peer-reviewed status more than others.

How can I tell if a journal is peer-reviewed?

Within the database, the information about the journal, whether a "Source Type" field or a description of the journal, will specifically mention that the publication is peer-reviewed. You can also do a Google search for the journal's official website, which should include information about the peer-review process, if one exists.

Want to learn more about the peer-review process? Watch the video by NC State University Libraries below.

How do I find peer-reviewed articles at the CapU Library?

In the library's Discovery search, look for "Peer-Reviewed (Scholarly) Articles" under "Limit to." 

A screenshot from the library's Discovery search showing the Peer-Reviewed (Scholarly) articles filter. An orange arrow is pointing to the filter.

Keep in mind that this option will remove scholarly books from your search results, so is best used when you need academic articles only!