Not all scholarly articles are peer reviewed, although many people use these terms interchangeably. Sometimes they are reviewed only by an editor/editorial board.
Peer-reviewed and refereed are synonyms.
In a peer-review process, articles go through a second review in addition to the editor and are examined by experts in the field to determine their merit.
Peer reviewed journals are usually scholarly in nature, but may occasionally be trade journals and reviewed by people who work in a particular field – chemical industry, automotive industry, etc.
Peer-reviewed articles will usually have an abstract and a list of references/bibliography.
Not all items in a peer reviewed journal are peer reviewed. Editorials, news items, book reviews, and letters to the editor, for example, do not tend to go through the same review process as the articles.
How do I know if it is?
There are several ways to find out
In general, newspapers and popular magazines, such as The New York Times or Business Week, etc. won't be peer reviewed. Neither will primary source materials for historical research (diaries, oral histories, interviews, etc.)
Some databases allow you to limit to titles that are scholarly, refereed or peer reviewed (limiters are typically on the left side of the results screen.)
Some databases will tell you on the main page of the citation information if articles go through a peer-review process.
Check the website for the journal; usually the About section or the Publishing Guidelines will indicate if there is a peer review policy.
Check the Ulrich's Periodical Directory (linked below) and it will indicate if it is. Search by the journal title or issn.
"Ulrichsweb is an easy to search source of detailed information on more than 300,000 periodicals (also called serials) of all types: academic and scholarly journals, e-journals, peer-reviewed titles, popular magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and more."
Before Searching: Check the Peer reviewed box below the search box OR After Searching: See the limiters on the left side for Peer reviewed and/or Scholarly Journals
Searches a variety of databases covering a wide range of topics. It provides access to full-text/image of many journals, as well as other data.
Before Searching: Check the Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals box below the search box OR After Searching: See the limiters on the left side for Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals
Subscriber: VIVA/CNUProvides access to databases covering a variety of topics. Provides access to full-text for some items.
All the journals in JSTOR are scholarly in nature. To limit your search to just articles - use the Advanced Search and under Item Type check the box for Articles To find out if the journal is peer reviewed check the Journal Website or a database such as UlrichsWeb
Subscriber: CNUAn online database of full-content articles from various journals in many subject areas including, but not limited to African American studies, Ecology, Economics, History, Literature and Mathematics. Many journals start with the first volume and issue; there is usually a delay of several years for accessing current issues.
Before Searching: Go the Advanced Search - Check the Only return peer-reviewed articles box below the search boxes OR After Searching: See the limiters on the left side for Content Type Peer reviewed
WorldCat Discovery lets you search a wide variety of resources all at once. Includes links to full-text resources as well as information on the Trible Library's print collection and information on resources available from around the world. Find something you need but we don't have access - CNU students, faculty and staff can request items through the interlibrary loan service!