Peer-review is an important additional step in the publishing process for some journals.  Articles submitted to peer-reviewed journals must be reviewed by at least one expert in the field, also known as “referees.” The reviewer is evaluating the research presented in the article. Articles that pass the peer-review process are published in the journal and considered peer-reviewed or refereed; those that don't pass are not published.

Find Out Using Ulrich's Web

Ulrich's Web is a bibliographic database providing detailed, comprehensive, and authoritative information on journals published throughout the world.

• Find out if a particular journal is peer reviewed

• Find out which databases index a journal

Using Ulrich's Web

The following guide goes step-by-step in using Ulrich's Web to determine if an article is in a peer-reviewed journal.  Ulrich's can tell you whether a journal is peer-reviewed, not individual articles. NOTE: Not every article in a peer-reviewed journal may be peer reviewed. Commentary, news, and opinion pieces usually are not peer-reviewed, but research articles are.

1. Go to the Ulrich's Web database from a GVSU link.

2. Enter the name of the journal/magazine (not the article or author!).

3. Look for a referee jersey next to the journal title. This means the journal is "refereed," which is another way of saying peer-reviewed.

This information is adapted from the GVSU Subject Guides.

RELATED IDEAS

• Understanding your assignment
• Finding sources
• Evaluating sources
• Annotated bibliography
• Literature review
• Source cover sheet