Q. Is there a difference between a peer-reviewed journal article, a scholarly journal article, and an academic journal article?

Though there may be slight differences between them, many people use the terms “scholarly journal article,” “peer-reviewed journal article,” and “academic journal article” interchangeably.  For the most part, if your professors ask you to use a scholarly journal article or academic journal article they are actually asking for a scholarly peer-reviewed journal article. If you are at all confused about the assignment though, you can always ask your professor for clarification.

In case you are wondering what the slight differences between the article types are, below are the descriptions.

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

A refereed journal article, sometimes referred to as a peer-reviewed article, is an article that, upon submission for publication, is subjected to a process of review by experts to determine the article's quality and value to the field of study. It represents original research, written by an expert in a field of study. The peer review process of articles differs from journal to journal; however, in most instances, the process involves the journal editor submitting the work to two experts for their review.

Scholarly Journals

Although peer-reviewed journals are always scholarly in nature, scholarly journals are not always peer-reviewed. Scholarly journals are research focused, reporting results of original research and experimentation. They are heavily cited in the form of either footnotes or bibliographies, and written by, and addressed to, experts in a discipline. However, whereas peer-reviewed journals require a strict "peer-approval" for publishing, a scholarly journal that is not peer-reviewed only requires the approval of an editorial board.

The library offers several databases to find scholarly and peer-reviewed articles Databases.

Two ways to search Databases:

1. Search scholarly databases by entering “Scholarly” into the Search for Databases box.

2. A “Scholarly/Peer Reviewed Articles” option is also available under All Database Types.

Helpful hint when searching within databases:

1. Many of the library’s databases search results filter peer reviewed/scholarly articles, and can often be found on the Advanced Search screen. When searching a database, look for a check box that reads “Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals,” “Peer-Reviewed,” or use a similar term to limit or narrow your search.

If you have questions about peer-reviewed and scholarly articles, please contact a librarian online via our 24/7 chat service, call us, or email library@miracosta.edu.