What is peer review?
The concept of peer review is one you will encounter frequently during your time at university and is one of the foundations of academic research. For many research assignments, professors will require you to use peer reviewed (sometimes called scholarly) resources when writing your papers.
Think of peer review as a type of quality control system for academic research. It involves other experts in a field reviewing and responding to a scholar's research before it is published publicly. Here is how the process works:
- A group of scholars conduct research and wants to share it through a written article. They submit it to a journal for publication.
- The journal's editor will send the submitted article to a group of other experts (or "peers") for them to review.
- The reviewers provide feedback on the research and determine if it is of high enough quality to be published.
- The authors might revise their article based on the reviewer feedback.
- If the article meets the expectations for quality research, the editorial requirements of the journal, and passes the scrutiny of peer review, the research is accepted for publication.
Why use peer reviewed research?
- Peer reviewed journals are trusted sources and are the standard for academic research in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities
- Using peer reviewed articles demonstrates your engagement with existing and established scholarship in your discipline
- Peer reviewed articles are usually required by your professors any time you are writing a research paper
Identifying peer reviewed articles
