When you find an article to use in your research, how do you determine if it is from a peer-reviewed journal? Many professors will assign papers and research projects that require you to find and use only articles from peer-reviewed journals. There are, essentially, two ways to determine if an article is from a peer-reviewed journal. First, when you search by topic in a library database, you often have the option to limit your results to just articles from peer-reviewed journals. When you start a search in a database, look for this option. In EBSCOhost databases, such as Academic Search Premier, look for the words "Scholarly Journals" and place a checkmark next to this option. In ProQuest databases, such as ProQuest Research Library, look for the words “Peer Reviewed” under the main search box and place a checkmark next to this option. Some library databases, like PubMed and ScienceDirect only index peer-reviewed journals. If you uncertain if a specific database you are using has an option to search only peer- reviewed journals or that the database only indexes peer-reviewed journals, call the University Libraries and we can help you with that. Sometimes you find a citation in the bibliography of an article, or are given an article citation by a professor, or you might even find an article through Google Scholar. In this case, you cannot simply click a button to know if the article comes from a peer-reviewed journal. To find out if the article you have is from a peer- reviewed journal, first jot down the title of journal. Then use the database UlrichsWeb to search for the journal and find out if it is a peer-reviewed journal. Ulrichsweb is a library database that DOES NOT index journal articles. Instead, Ulrichsweb is a database that just gives you information about journals – such as the publisher, when the journal started, if the journal is in English or another language, and more. Ulrichsweb will also indicate whether or not a journal is peer-reviewed. So, if I found this article, and I need to know if it came from a peer-reviewed journal, I would take note of the journal name and look up the journal name in Ulrichsweb.

I find records for three titles that are a match to the Journal of Sex Research. This is all the same journal – but each indicates a different format of the journal: print, online, and microform. What I need to look at is the black and white symbol. Remember that peer review is also sometimes called juried or refereed. This symbol is supposed to look like a referee’s jersey, and if this symbol is present, I know that the journal is peer reviewed. So whether searching in a library database for articles or finding articles in other ways, I am always able to tell if the article comes from a peer-reviewed journal.