Answered By: Kristin Snawder
Last Updated: Oct 24, 2023     Views: 926

You can evaluate journal articles for scholarly content by considering the following:

  • Authorship
    • Who wrote the article?
    • Does the author have a Ph.D. or credentials related to the topic they are writing about?
    • Does the author work for a college, university, or government research agency?
    • Has the author published books on a similar topic?
  • Publication
    • What is the name of the journal that contains the article
    • Who publishes the journal: an academic institution, government agency, or academic publisher?
    • How often is the journal published?
    • Which topics does the journal cover?
    • Who is the intended audience?
  • Article
    • Does the article contain an abstract or summary?
    • Are charts, graphs, or other supplementary materials included in the article
    • Does the article provide references, both in-text and at the end of the document?
    • Does the article use terms and concepts that are unfamiliar to you?

Many databases also have a feature that allows you to limit your search results to scholarly/peer-reviewed/academic sources. You can see an example below how to limit results in the NOVA Libraries Catalog.

 

Step by Step: Searching for Peer-Reviewed Articles in the Catalog from NOVA Libraries on Vimeo.

 

If you need to determine if a journal is peer-reviewed, and it's not clear from the journal's homepage, you can use the UlrichsWeb Global Serials Directory database to verify.

NOTE: Not everything published in a peer-reviewed journal is a peer-reviewed article. Peer-reviewed journals often include letters to the editor, commentaries, and/or book reviews that are not considered peer-reviewed articles.

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