A peer-reviewed article is one that has been reviewed by a body of “peers:” experts in the same field as the writer.

They are sometimes called “refereed” and are published in scholarly or academic journals.

To limit to scholarly or peer-reviewed articles, look for a checkbox to LIMIT your search in the main search screen of most databases.

For additional ways to determine if an article is scholarly, see the scholarly articles help page.

It also has examples of scholarly journals vs. general magazines.

Find Articles - Scholarly versus Popular

Publications exist in a wide variety of formats.

Consider: what type of documents do you need based on your information needs?

What types of resources do your professors expect you to cite in your research?

Scholarly	Criteria	Popular
	Type of source
Lengthy, in depth. Often includes tables, graphs, statistics. Serious appearance, not heavily graphic. Generally includes abstract and citation list. Advertisements aimed at the scholarly audience it serves. Purpose of the articles is usually to present original research or experiments.	Length and appearance of articles	Shorter, overview-type articles. Popular style. Glossy format. Attractive covers. Lots of photographs. Does not usually include abstract or citation list. Includes many advertisements aimed at a general audience. Purpose of the articles is to entertain the reader.
Scholars, experts. Credentials always included. Peer reviewed, refereed or juried: critically evaluated by a knowledge panel of experts. Usually published by a scholarly or university press.	Authorship/Editorial	Reporters, staff writers. Credentials not usually included. Reviewed by the editorial staff, not subject experts. Articles are sometimes unsigned. Usually published by a commercial publisher.
Includes words like: review, journal, research, quarterly, studies, transactions, proceedings, archives.	Title	Often included the word magazine
Technical, likely to include the jargon of the field. Assumes some background knowledge from the reader.	Language	Non-technical, accessible by broad audience
Traditional structure usually requires: abstract, literature review, methodology, results, conclusion, references	Article structure	No specific structure.
Published bi-monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually.	Frequency	Published daily, weekly or monthly.