LibGuides: Evaluating Sources: Peer-reviewed vs. Popular

Peer-reviewed or scholarly?

All peer-reviewed journals are scholarly, but not all scholarly articles are peer-reviewed.

Peer-reviewed = reviewed by professionals in the field, independent of the journal.

Scholarly = has an editorial staff knowledgeable in the field.

Double check

Still not sure if your source is peer-reviewed or not? Try Ulrich's Periodical Directory -- it lists each periodical as Consumer, Trade, or Academic/Scholarly.

UlrichsWeb Global Serials Directory This link opens in a new window
Directory of periodicals with information on peer-reviewed status, database availability, publisher, country, ISSN, start year, and active/inactive status.

Sometimes professors will ask you to use "scholarly articles" rather than popular magazines or newspapers. How can you tell the difference? See the table below:

Characteristics	Scholarly Articles	Popular Magazine
Appearance	Sober and serious May contain graphs or charts Will not find glossy pages or photographs	Attractive appearance Advertisements Heavily illustrated Glossy paper
Audience	Scholars and students	General audience
Authors	Scholars in the field of study	Reporters, usually not experts on the subject
Documentation	Sources cited in footnotes and/or bibliography	Sources not cited or cited informally
Purpose	Report results of original research or experimentation	Provide general information
Article Acceptance Procedure	Many (but not all*) scholarly journals are "refereed" or "peer review" journals - articles undergo a rigorous examination by other scholars in the field before being published.	Written by hired reporters, edited by magazine editors, and published.
Example journals	Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise Journal of Sports Medicine Internal Journal of Sport Psychology	Sports Illustrated Coach and Athletic Director Bicycling
Example articles	Peer-reviewed article example	Popular article example

Image taken from Understanding Science