Peer Review: Is this Article Peer Reviewed?

Use this guide to help determine if the articles you find are "scholarly," "academic," "peer reviewed," or "refereed"

What is a Scholarly Article
Peer Reviewed Research Articles
Scholarly Article Checklist
- Things that are not research articles:
- Scholarly Article Checklist

Contact

Get library help

E-mail
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Make an Appointment
Call 217 581-6072
Hours Calendar

Librarians from the Research Engagement and Scholarship (RES) department are here to help.

Contact an RES Librarian:
David Bell
Steve Brantley
Kirstin Duffin
Michele McDaniel
Amy Odwarka

Things that are not research articles:

Letters to the editor
book reviews,
news items,

...and other short works without citations may be published in a journal that includes peer reviewed articles, but these types of writing are not likely to be considered peer reviewed articles by your instructor.

Use the checklist below to decide if you have a peer reviewed research article.

Is the article you found scholarly or peer reviewed?

Use the checklist to find out.

Article is more than 3 pages long
There is an author or authors listed
Each author's institutional affiliation is listed
Author's degrees or credentials are listed. Example: PhD, RD, MD, BSN, MS

Article has these sections:

Abstract
Literature Review
Methodology
Results
Conclusion
References

There are footnotes
There is a chart
There is a graph
There is a table
There is a formula

I found a word I had to look up
I had to re-read a sentence twice

If you are still uncertain after using the checklist, ask a librarian. The Research Help Desk is open during library hours. You can also call us at 217 581-6072.