Research guides: CCT110H5: Rhetoric and Media (Winter 2024): Define "Scholarly" and "Peer-reviewed"

What does "Peer Reviewed" mean?

Scholarly articles and other scholarly resources are published for an audience of researchers, not for the general public. In this course, you are asked to use scholarly materials

Scholarly articles accepted for publication in a "peer reviewed" journal have been analyzed by experts with a deep knowledge of the subject. These "peers" will have reviewed the paper, including its assumptions, research question, literature review, methodology and results, and have assessed the findings to determine the originality and soundness of the research presented for publication.

Once the peer review process is complete, the article can be accepted it for publication as is, be revised before publication, or be rejected altogether. Think of peer review as a quality control process.

"Refereed" journals are "peer reviewed."

Not sure if a journal article is "Refereed" (Peer Reviewed)?

UlrichsWeb Global Serials Directory
Search for the journal title in Ulrichs. Look for "Refereed: Yes" in the results to confirm that it is a scholarly, peer reviewed article.
Understanding Peer Review Guide: Using Ulrich's
This visual guide to Ulrich's demonstrates how to determine whether a journal is peer-reviewed.

Comparing Non-Scholarly and Scholarly Resources

	Non-Scholarly Sources (Newspapers, Magazines, etc)	Scholarly Sources (including peer-reviewed journals)
Audience	General public	Scholars in that field, and the academic community
Authors	Journalists; professional writers; persons with a general interest in that topic. No academic affiliation or credentials given	Experts in that field (faculty, post-docs, graduate students, etc.) Articles will include author's research affliations
Editors	Editor working for publisher	Editorial board of scholars Peer reviewers who are experts in the field
Citations (Footnotes, Endnotes, etc)	References are typically NOT included	Includes a bibliography, references, or works cited section.
Publishers	Commercial publisher	Scholarly or professional organization, an academic press
Writing Style	Assumes readers have no or little knowledge of topic Intended for broad readership	Assumes reader has a level of knowledge in the field Uses jargon and technical details related to the field
Other Characteristics	Includes advertisements and pictures Glossy presentation Broad subject coverage	Text heavy, with few if any images excepts for graphical presentation of data Tables and charts included Few or no advertisements A narrow subject focus