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.
Many of the library's databases offer the ability to limit your search results to peer-reviewed articles (examples are: EBSCO and CINAHL).
For a comparison of popular and refereed journal sources, access the Is it a Magazine or an Academic Journal? handout.
