Library FAQs

Peer-reviewed or scholarly articles are usually lengthy and written in scholarly language by scholars and researchers. These articles are often peer-reviewed, which means that the information in the article was checked for accuracy and importance by a team of experts in the field before publication.

Scholarly articles often report on research. Research articles can be identified by their standard format, containing sections titled Methods, Results, Conclusions, and Bibliography. 

Just to let you know, scholarly journals sometimes have non-scholarly content, such as book reviews or editorial opinions. While these articles can be helpful they do not qualify as "scholarly" or "peer-reviewed."

If you are unsure whether an article is peer-reviewed, you can consult with a librarian or a faculty member.

Popular articles are in magazines you encounter in the grocery store or the dentist's office. Journalists write the articles to inform and entertain. These are not considered scholarly. The articles frequently give short, easy-to-read overviews of the research articles published in academic journals.

A third type of journal article you might encounter is a trade journal article. These articles contain practical advice and information for workers within a specific occupation. For example, a professional pharmacist might read the trade journal Pharmacy Times to find out about new advances in child-proof lids. Still, they will turn to scholarly research articles to learn how a new drug performed in clinical trials.

The easiest way to find peer-reviewed articles is to use the "SingleSearch" on the Hoffman Family Library's main page.  

• enter search terms in the search or enter the title of a known article and check off the box next to "peer review," then press "Search."
• after you get results click the "Limit to articles from scholarly publications, including peer review" checkbox in the left-hand column under "Refine your search."

This search engine will filter your search results and present a list of scholarly articles, many of which will be available online.

You may wish to look in specific databases for articles. Click on the box labeled "Databases" Click here to go directly to that page.

Most of our article databases allow you to limit results to scholarly, refereed, or peer-reviewed articles. For example:

• Academic Search Premier has a checkbox under "Limit your results" to select "peer-reviewed"

If you have questions about identifying peer-reviewed articles in specific subject areas, consult with a reference librarian, in person, via email, online cat, phone or asking another question here.