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SPH511 Research Skills Guide

What is peer review?

Peer review

Articles published in peer-reviewed or refereed journals have been through a formal approval process. An editor and one or more subject specialists review the article before it is accepted for publication. This process is intended to ensure that the article is accurate, well-researched, and contributes to the body of knowledge in the field.

Primo Search and some Journal Databases include an option to limit your search to scholarly or peer reviewed articles, and some other databases include this information as part of an article record. While this is an indication that the article could be peer-reviewed the definitive way to find out is to use Ulrichsweb Global Periodicals Directory. You can access this database from the Library's list of U-databases.

Basically, you need to go the Ulrichsweb, search for the journal, and in the panel of results, check to see if a referee shirt icon is displayed. The referee shirt icon indicates that the journal is peer-reviewed.

 

Ulrichsweb

Use the Ulrichsweb database below to check if journals are peer reviewed.

Remember to search for the journal title, not the article title.

As an example, search for the following journals and see if they are peer-reviewed. (Hint: enclose your phrase in double quotation marks):

  • Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
  • International Journal of Medical Imaging.

You might need to log in first.

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