Q. What are and how do I find peer-reviewed journal articles or scholarly publications?

What is a scholarly publication?

A scholarly publication is written by academics for an academic audience. It is typically not in a popular magazine format and is often published by an academic press or a recognized scholarly society.

What is a peer-reviewed (refereed) publication?

A peer-reviewed publication is one where articles go through an official editorial process involving review and approval by subject experts. Most, but not all, scholarly publications are peer-reviewed.

How can I limit my search to peer-reviewed articles?

Discovery Search and many databases, such as EBSCOhost and ProQuest, allow you to limit results to peer-reviewed journals. Look for the Peer-Reviewed checkbox or similar limiter on the Advanced Search screen.  
Tip: Applying this filter restricts results to content from peer-reviewed journals, though items like book reviews or editorials may still appear. For step-by-step instructions, see the following FAQ on using the Discovery Search peer-reviewed limiter.

What if my database doesn’t have a peer-reviewed limiter?

If you already have an article citation or your database does not offer a peer-reviewed filter, you can check whether the journal is peer-reviewed using the UlrichsWeb database.

• Search by the journal title (not the article title).
• Look for the Document Type and Refereed fields to confirm peer-review status.